Departmental Issues
by Blue Lone Wolf 2574
Summary: Roy's a local detective trying to solve a murder, Ed's the new guy next door hoping for a new start. Something between them stirs. Can Mustang and Ed get things together in time to catch a killer on the loose? EdxRoy Rated M for safety prec. Thanks all!
1. Chapter 1: New Neighbor

Greetings readers! For 'tis I, Blue Lone Wolf! Here once again to fill my time with something other than writer's block issues, and you with something worth reading (and hopefully) and reviewing when you're feeling modest. This new story should fill the void in both our heads, as well as inspire me to update more often. But right now, I just hope you guys enjoy what's in store. Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form, but I have a friend who wants Mustang. Not if I get him first evil chuckle … okay I'm done now. Enjoy!!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thought

"_Iii_" radio/telephone speech

Chapter 1: New Neighbor

Retired military colonel now big city detective Roy Mustang leaned against the railing of his porch overlooking the busy streets of New York. Letting out a lazy sigh, watching cigarette smoke float away only to be swept out of sight by a cool breeze, Roy stared coolly at the sight of the city's colossal river stretching almost like a giant lake across the horizon, tiny boats floating on its surface almost like toys. Calmly blowing more cigarette smoke into the open air, the raven-haired man scratched the back of his head as night black eyes barely even took in the beautiful view before him.

Thin white shirt making small snapping noises in the small gasps of gusty winds, open at the collar as he stood in shiny black office shoes and suit pants that matched his shoes, Roy took another lungful of smoke before letting it come out from between his teeth only to notice that the cigarette in his hand was more than half gone, he grumbled something inaudible even to himself as he rubbed the lit end onto the concrete side of his balcony before flicking the remains of the cigarette over the side, absentmindedly watching it vanish into the wind and shadows of the big city skies and streets.

He, like many of the Boys in Blue of the NYPD law enforcement, knew that despite the gorgeous scenery he got to look at every day, there were hundreds of mean, nasty people hiding in the shadows and muck of the countless buildings within his line of sight. Mainly because some guy jacked up on some methamphetamine shot and killed his friend and (much to his annoyance) overly happy partner Maes Hughes, leaving him to tell the man's wife of her husband's downfall. It was now three years to the day and she'd forgiven him about two years before.

Letting out another lazy sigh of fatigue and boredom, Roy turned around to got back inside his apartment and out of the slight chill of early autumn winds when a flash of gold caught his eye, coming from the normally empty apartment next to his. Just when he'd thought it'd been a trick of the light, the flash of bright color came again only to vanish just like before. A little confused at this, Mustang chose to shrug it off and enter his silent apartment, a bit unkempt from lousy hours of only being able to stick around for less than eight before heading out of to spend the remaining sixteen on the streets or in the office, looking for the latest murderer or rapist.

--_**Meanwhile, Next Door**_—

There was a small layer of dust, but dusting and sweeping could easily solve the issue before it got any worse. Smiling triumphantly at convincing the landlord to rent out the apartment to his older brother, Alphonse Elric turned to smile at said brother standing at the glass door that allowed them both to see the top of hundreds of other buildings and the river glistening in the mid-afternoon sun. His long blonde hair shining in the light coming in from the outdoors, Edward Elric turned to his younger sibling with a smile that he'd been hoping to see all day.

The older boy's smile was enough to make Al happy for the rest of the day. "This is great Al! Thanks for gettin' that old man to let me stay here."

Alphonse set the box in his hands down onto what appeared to be the kitchen counter, the kitchen itself just to the right of the hallway leading to the door. "It was nothing brother. Besides, just be glad he's making you pay half the normal rent until you get settled with a good job."

"I know but look at this! You can see the frickin' river from here!" Ed said in awe of the sight. It was apparent that he'd never really been in such a large metropolis before his younger brother did.

Al's smile of triumph widened to almost a grin as he spoke again. "Knew you'd like that brother! One of the best views in the city."

"Thanks again Al." Edward said as truthfully as possible before coming away from the back door across what seemed to be the living area.

"Let's get you unpacked." Al said coolly before opening the box in front of him and began to set out the contents onto the remaining countertop space.

Ed's reaction to this was almost immediate as his stride became a little faster. "I thought I said that I didn't--!"

Before he could say more, Al cut him off with a determined look, making him stop in his tracks and blink in surprise. "And I say you do! Now go explore some more while I help Winry bring the rest of the boxes upstairs."

"O-okay." the teen said grudgingly as he watched his little brother turn and vanish out the door before he spotted the doorway to another hall to the left of the kitchen. Not wanting to get scolded again, Ed decided to make his way through to see what kind of rooms there were to deal with. Other than the main bedroom with an adjoining bathroom, there was an extra one two doors down back towards the kitchen, one of which was a closet of some sort and another seemed to be a guest bedroom. The two others opposite these doors were what appeared to be either more guest bedrooms or storage rooms. What they were exactly he didn't know but he was sure that would take some time figuring out later on.

The sound of his shoes on the smooth wooden floors echoed throughout the barren apartment. He only regretted that his little brother and his girlfriend, Winry Rockbell, were there to help him move when he wasn't even allowed to carry his own belongings into his new home. Memories of his younger sibling were still a bit fresh in his mind, making him cringe at how he'd searched for the boy for years. Having been separated after their mother's death, Ed had to fight like hell to learn where his brother had been sent. Not to mention he'd given up a long while back on trying to find their missing father after he left, and didn't come back.

Ed glared at the barren wall in front of him at the memory of the middle-aged man who always had a sad expression on his face for some reason. He only knew that his mother was crying almost all the time after he was gone for more than two weeks, how she practically cried herself to sleep over him. Memories of how she began to act strange once a year had gone by, how she grew weaker by the day, how they watched her fade when he and his brother tried to give her soups that were more like boiled water with veggies and meat bits floating in it. She smiled no matter how much she coughed, no matter how much they told her they'd tried to follow the recipes in her books as well as their little minds would allow. Two weeks later, she wouldn't wake up at all. Because their father couldn't be found and the two were only a year apart, Ed and Al were sent to different foster homes, Ed desperately insisting that he be put in the same home as Al or at least the other way around. Naturally, his pleas went ignored as the days became weeks, weeks became months, and months transformed into years.

_And now… we're finally back together again._ He thought to himself as he left the room he was in to come to a stop in the hallway, looking left and right before heading deeper into the apartment. The master bedroom was bare, like all the other rooms in the place, except for an old bed frame with no mattresses on it. Sweat dropping at the sight of this odd visual, Ed merely shrugged it off.

I've got a futon from my old place anyway. I'll just put that thing into storage or somethin'. Putting such a note into his subconscious mind, Ed left the room and started walking back towards the living room. Upon coming back into the wide space, he found Al and Winry already there, carrying another set of boxes in their arms.

Light, lemon yellow hair and kind eyes of green, just like the photos Al had shown him about a month before, Winry Rockbell stood next to her boyfriend as she looked up from inspecting the contents of the box she'd brought in. Her face, smooth featured and glowing with unnatural warmth, brightened with a smile as she spoke in a predictably excited manner. "Oh! So you're Ed! Nice to meet you! My name's Winry."

He smiled kindly at her, vaguely wondering how his own little brother had managed to find such a girl. "Hey. My brother's not too much trouble for ya?"

"Ed!" Al yelled, a dark red blush stretching across his face. He barely noticed the light blonde girl holding back an amused giggle.

Al's blush deepened a little as Winry replied. "No, he isn't. But he talked about you a lot when he didn't know where you were."

"Oh really? What about now?" Ed inquired, giving his younger sibling an amused stare from across the room.

"He talks about you nonstop." She said, making Al turn a beet red with pure embarrassment as he turned to her in protest.

"I do not!"

"Is that so?" Ed asked, pretending he hadn't heard Al trying to cover up his own actions by silencing his own girlfriend.

"Yup!" the girl said, also ignoring Alphonse as she started giggling again. Al just looked like he was about to die of humiliation via chatty girlfriend.

"Winry!"

"Oh calm down! I'm just messin' with ya. I'll be right back with some of the other boxes okay?" she said coolly, giving Al a peck on the cheek before going out the door, Ed raising an eyebrow at how quickly such a move washed away his brother's look of shock to that of numb affection.

"Yeah, I'll be right behind you." he said, trying to shake his mind of the recent conversation and what'd just happened.

Turning, he found Ed staring with a knowing expression on his face. Feeling the blood rush back to his face again, Al felt like a deer caught in the headlights all over again. He couldn't help but wonder just what it was his older brother was thinking at this very moment. For all he knew, that amused smirk on Ed's face was a bad sign.

"What?" Al inquired, suddenly feeling nervous under a strange gaze as this.

Ed's smirk became a foolish grin within seconds. "You're only what? 22 years old now and already you've found a girl that can shut you up in less than two seconds? I'm impressed bro."

It became wider at the sign of Al's face turning completely red. "J-just start unpacking! I'll be back with more boxes."

"Okay. Just don't take forever making out in the elevator." He said to Al's retreating back, the comment making the younger boy to turn and yell.

"ED!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding already!" Ed exclaimed between chuckles and snickers of amusement.

"You better be!" Al called before vanishing out the door.

Edward just chuckled whole-heartedly as he approached his new kitchen counter to start assorting the box's contents. But he paused. It'd been possibly over ten years since he'd even tried to laugh 'whole-heartedly'. A little confused at this, he tried to think it over more clearly. _Am I just glad to be living somewhat with my brother again? Or is it just that I'm happy to be able to tease him?_

Not wanting to be unpacking on into the night, Ed opened the first box closest to him and began to pull out a stack of carefully packed dinner plates. Even though they were plain white and made of whatever clay/porcelain material that was used, he was glad to have found them on sale for 50 off. If not, he'd have fainted at the price they'd been several weeks before. Managing to get those put into a safe spot and out of harm's way, Edward began to personalize his new world.

--_**With Mustang**_—

The case he'd been working on lately was being a real pain in the ass. Truly, painfully and indubitably a real run for his money. And his fellow officers at the precinct were just as stumped as he was. Not to mention the fact that the scenes were not only nauseating, but downright confusing. It was more than just plain bizarre. It was absolutely impossible. Especially how the unknown murderer(s) were leaving their scenes as nothing more than bloody messes with barely anything to show that the large amount of splatter had once been a person.

Now sitting at his desk in one of his spare rooms, Roy took another drag of a new cigarette he'd lit upon coming inside, his midnight black eyes staring down at the crime scene photos. If he didn't know any better, he could swear that the pictures contents was done by a clumsy artist trying to impress him with random blood spray and gooey remains of teen or adult human beings. Every time he stared at the photos from the files in front of him, Roy knew from experience that the real scene was worse than the photos could ever pull off. They didn't have odors. Photos didn't have rookie and semi-vet cops rushing past the yellow tape to lean against their cars to hurl up their latest meal.

More importantly, there weren't annoying onlookers and hysterical family members, friends or spouses trying to force their way past the other cops and the tape to see if the person who was lying on the street like an old newspaper was someone they'd not heard from in a certain number of hours. On a normal basis, Roy could easily question these people to see if the person they knew was indeed the deceased lying in a pool of their own blood as if it were make-shift lake water worth swimming in during the summer months. On such a routine did many cops depend on the victim to at least be clothed and in one piece. But other times they only found them in pieces. That was fine, as long as they managed to find the rest of the body.

Problem was, this case was just plain strange, outright bizarre and purely weird down to the letter. When found, the victim wasn't just nude or in pieces, but was reduced to a violent spray and bloody smear on the ground and walls. Whenever coming onto these scenes, Roy caught himself wrinkling his nose at the sight of bits and pieces of flesh and bone clinging to the sticky, stinking blood on brick walls almost like plaster made of your annoying neighbor. Roy, personally, had never had an annoying neighbor of any kind. But he suspected that this was where most ended up when living next to someone with anger issues after exercising one's liberties a bit too much.

Dark eyes scanning the photos in the light of his desk lamp, Roy leaned an elbow in a purely relaxed manner onto the black cherry wood as he calmly tapped ashes into the tray somewhere on his far right. Looking at each photo, the seasoned cop could easily see how solid, one hundred some odd pound human being could be turned into a mix of cherry gelatin mixed in with bits of pig meat, its bones and several buckets worth of dried stage blood. After seeing some pretty grisly murders, Roy was only slightly disgusted at the sight of this new atrocity. He knew that he had to figure out how the killer(s?) were turning normal people into pails of red goop and fluids.

Sifting past the scene photos, Roy brought forth what few records on only three of the near eight victims. They'd been normal people. Living perfectly normal lives and bothering no one. Well, except for one but he was a bit of a druggie dealing with withdrawal symptoms at the time of the assault charge. Beyond that, the rest of the victims might as well have not existed at all compared to how some people had red flags floating over their heads.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing. Not his cell phone. No, he'd turned that off and it was charging somewhere in his kitchen. Or was it his bedroom? Oh well. It didn't really matter anyhow. I was planning on gettin' some coffee anyway. He thought vaguely, taking his sweet old time to rise from his chair and mumble to himself on how he forgot to put a phone in his office room. Shrugging it off for the moment, he reached his bedroom in time for the fourth ring to go off before he sat down on his bed and picked up the receiver.

"Yeah?" he said coolly, letting out another exhale of smoke into the air of the room as if he didn't have a care or a reason to be there.

"_Mustang?_" the familiar and lazy voice of Lt. Havoc, made obvious by how his voice sounded, not to mention his own laidback exhale of smoke from the other end of the line.

"Speaking." Roy said just as coolly as before.

As if on cue, Havoc's voice changed to one of rough experience. "_We have another scene sir. You should probably come down while it's still fresh._"

Roy allowed the pause to stretch a little before he sat up a little in his desk chair. "How long ago?"

"_Possibly… four… five hours? The mortician is still trying to determine the T.O.D more accurately._" Havoc grumbled from the other end. Roy let out a sigh. He knew better than anyone that these odd and grisly scenes were making their mortician and coroner Kain Fuery work his ass off for his paycheck.

"Same as the others?" he asked suddenly, taking Havoc off guard.

"_Y-yeah._" the lazy blonde stammered, practically hating the fact that their serial killer was back to his grisly games.

Mustang didn't even wait for the man to recover. "Where are you?"

This time, Havoc was quicker in responding to this question. "_On 9__th__ and Main. And come quick. We're startin' to get a bit of a crowd out here._"

Considering that the last two sentences were whispered told him that his fellow officers were indeed trying to deal with the quickly mounting attention. Which meant that he'd have a hell of a time just trying to reach the scene some time after finding a parking space. "Be there in twenty minutes."

Without waiting for a response from the other end, Roy almost instantly hung up on the poor man before taking his sweet old time rising from his chair. He was king of his castle after all, even if he was just a detective from the local police station. Stretching a little bit to get some of his blood flowing, Roy went to search for his shoes and jacket. Within a span of a few minutes, putting a 1920's fedora on his head over his short jet-black hair, detective Roy Mustang left his single's apartment for the busy streets of New York.

--_**With Ed**_—

It'd only taken them thirty minutes to unload all the boxes from the truck and bring them to Ed's new apartment via the apartment building's elevator. The only things remained now were the furniture. Problem was, the largest of these couldn't exactly fit into the elevator even if they tried. Which led them to have the movers use the stairs in the hopes no one would be trying to use them when they came through. Much to their relief, the stairways were perfectly empty. Their torture: the building was six stories high, Ed's being on the fifth. The three teens offered to help, except the seasoned movers declined saying it was their way of getting exercise. Not to mention they had the right to do what they were being paid to do.

Before the hour was over, Ed had a well-furnished apartment despite all the unpacked cardboard boxes everywhere. Other than this, the entire living room was in disarray from being filled with Ed's many journals and books on an assortment of subjects. To compensate, they found that he'd also many shelves to house them in, many of which went into one of the spare rooms, hiding the walls entirely. From what he could tell of his research, he'd be able to teach at one of the local schools long enough to gain tenure. If not, he was willing to move again. But not without making sure he kept in touch with his little brother first.

Luckily, he knew such a thing was a long way's off and probably wouldn't happen anyway so for the moment, he decided to just enjoy catching up on lost time with his little brother and learning just how the hell he managed to find a girlfriend.

As said little brother was choosing to explain. "… So next thing I know, she's looking down at me with this smile on her face like she's just witnessed the most amusing thing on the planet! About five minutes later, were in the cafeteria, talking like we're old friends! Can you believe that?"

"I'm part of the story and I can't help but not believe what I'm hearing." Winry said with amused chuckles, leaning against Alphonse with a triumphant smile on her pale face.

"Haha very funny." Al deadpanned, not looking too amused even though a ghostly smirk made itself at home on his lips.

Ed just laughed, almost slapping his knee before speaking. "Still gotta hand it to ya bro, you two stick together long enough and I just might have to get used the mighty title of 'uncle'."

Winry blinked in surprise as Al turned beet red. "H-hey now! Isn't that looking too much into the situation?"

Laughing a little harder now, Edward smiled mischievously at his younger sibling in a way that made Al look a little scared. "What? You two make a great couple! Just be sure to name one of your daughters after Mom though. I'd hate for such a good name to go to waste."

Somehow overcoming his sudden fear, Al tried to think of a good comeback that would throw his older brother off balance. "Brother! Even I know it's too early for that kind of premeditated occasion! Besides, if you want us to get married so bad, why don't you come with me to find the right ring when you've got spare time?"

"Huh? No! Absolutely not! That's your problem, not mine!" Ed said quickly, knowing now he'd dug himself into a pretty deep hole. Winry just giggled at the look on his face, knowing her boyfriend had won the first round.

"Then let's keep it that way shall we?" Al said coolly.

"Fine, fine. You got me," the older blond said, rolling his amber eyes in annoyance at his brother's remark. "But seriously, do you two have any plans at all?"

"Not just yet but I think Al just might have something hidden up his sleeve, don't you sweetie?" the light blonde girl inquired, her expression filled with mischief as she squeezed Al's arm, bringing her nose dangerously close to his.

Ed and Winry could only laugh as Al stammered nervously, yet another powerful blush turning his face a bright tomato red.

--_**Twenty Minutes Later**_—

With more than half the many box's content strewn all over the place and in complete disarray, the couple managed to make it to the door for one last goodbye for the night. As Edward held the door, Al gave his older brother one last reassuring smile. "So if you need anything from us, you can call this number or just come up two stories to 12G okay?"

Taking the proffered piece of torn notebook paper, Ed smirked at the sentimental move as he pocketed it for later. "Gotcha. I should be able to finish organizing by myself but I'll probably need help job hunting."

Al just smiled a little wider. "See you tomorrow brother."

"It was nice meeting you!" Winry said, giving the blonde teen a kind grin and a wave as she let Alphonse gently lead her towards the stairs.

"Bye." Ed said in turn, shutting the door with a tired sigh, golden eyes turning to face the chaos that was his new home. From what he could observe of the huge mess, the majority of the clutter was made up of books he rarely even used anymore, notes that now made no sense to him at all as well as the few knickknacks he'd collected over the years only because their shape and colors interested him in some way or other.

_I can probably sell the books and throw away the notes… or just put them all in storage for later or somethin'. Yeah…. some of this crap might actually be useful sooner or later._ He thought to himself, using a hand to rub his chin.

Taking a step to reenter his new home, his golden eye spotted the umbrella stand that either Al or Winry had found in the moving truck somewhere. One or two old umbrellas stuck their tired and cracked handles into the air, leaning towards the wall until otherwise brought out for use. The newest one, which he'd snagged a month or two before, was pointing its handle at the ceiling just above the front door, as if eager to be taken outside and used to near death. But the one item that wasn't an umbrella caught the blonde's attention: the cane he'd been forced to use now and again since he was nearly seven years old.

Memories of how, at first, he'd been forced to use a chair, and then a walker made for the elderly but smaller to suit his height. Simply remembering such hard years seemed like a zap of static electricity compared to actually living them. To him, they'd been pure hell and close calls to falling to insanity. Wincing at his dark thoughts, having promised himself to avoid them in his new start, Ed passed the umbrella stand with a small chill running up and down his spine.

--_**With Mustang**_—

Traffic had been slightly mild for that time of day, a bit on the odd side but also the good, making his arrival to the scene only take at least fifteen minutes. With at least two extra minutes to spare, and absolutely none to lose. Somehow finding a parking space amidst the already parked cars, the parked black and whites and the many paparazzi vans, Mustang managed to step out onto the late afternoon street to find that the press and passerby weren't the only observers: people from all over were sticking their heads out of windows and from behind curtains to look down at the many cars parked outside their buildings. Some even jerked back inside when they noticed Roy looking back up at them.

Choosing to ignore these high level rubber-neckers, he adjusted his hat enough to hide his eyes from the flashing lights of cameras and annoying voices of reporters and journalists trying to get his statement on the matter. Somehow avoiding cameras and microphones coming his way from all sides, Roy was able to reach the scene beyond the yellow police tape without too much of a hassle.

Upon reaching said tape only to calmly step under it, flashing his police detective's badge at the nearest cop who tried to bar his way from going further, Roy was met by the owner of the lazy voice who he'd spoken with on the phone mere minutes beforehand. Jean Havoc was probably lazier than he was, and still held onto the slightly military haircut that'd set them back ten years in styles. Almost dirty blonde hair set in natural spikes on top with dark chocolate brown highlighting the back of his head, Havoc let his gray eyes fall on his superior.

A smirk upon his face, a few bristles from his lack of shaving sticking out of his chin as he spoke with a lit cigarette still between his lips. "Huh. And here I thought it'd take you forty instead of fifteen. This case mean that much to you already?"

Roy just shrugged it off. He was just doing his job after all. "Bradley wants it closed so I'm gonna close it. It's not like I really wanted to take this case to begin with… but there's too many odd things about it."

"So you are interested." Havoc said in amusement, his smirk growing a little wider as he walked with Roy towards the opening to the alleyway. They paused at its entryway before he decided to speak.

"At least until it goes cold." Roy said just as smoothly, pulling out a half empty pack and a lighter from his jacket pocket. Ironically, it was a trench coat that went perfectly with his fedora of a hat. It wasn't his fault he fell in love with the old black and white mystery films when he was a kid.

Havoc merely shook his head as Roy lit his latest cigarette, staring off into space as he pocketed the pack and lighter again. "I don't know… at this rate? I'd say you're gonna be workin' on this the rest of your career."

"Don't jinx me." The raven-haired man growled, night black eyes throwing daggers at the other officer.

The dirty blonde haired man just laughed at this, knowing his counterpart all too well by now. "I have worse luck than you do. That ain't possible."

It was Roy's turn to smirk between drags of the cigarette. "Only in love Havoc, only in love."

"Do you have to burn me with that one every time you show up?" the man inquired, now looking perfectly miserable.

"Only because you bring it up." He said smoothly, the smirk having vanished from his pale face, calmly continuing their walk into the alley were similar murders took place. "So what do we have exactly?"

Havoc grimaced but answered his superior anyway. "Same as the all the others that we've had to clean up. Ugh. Sometimes I just want to barf whether I'm actually there or not!"

Unlike Havoc, Roy was able to remain cool without going green from disgust at the bloody display before them. "Get over it Havoc. You and I both know we probably saw worse that this in the war."

"I don't know. This guy's pretty sick for a serial killer." Havoc grumbled as he turned back to face the street and reporters hoping to get a better look at the grisly mess behind him.

"Havoc. All serial killers are sick. Mentally ill as it turns out. This guy has something against the people he attacks, so he's using it as a motive to do what he believes to be his task in the world. Or whatever kind of bullshit religious crap he might have goin' through his mind right now." Roy deadpanned coolly.

He'd dealt with another, but slightly less dangerous, serial killer who'd been a bit too enthusiastic about everyone joining the church where he used to go before his girlfriend dumped him, went into a depression and went insane from bad thoughts and too much drug abuse. Roy had indeed solved the case, but not before the man decided to try and blow both their heads off with a hunter's rifle. They'd suspected that it was really a cult who was killing people and leaving them nailed to their own walls on crucifixes painted onto the wall with the victims blood, crowns of thorns adorning their heads as they stared off to some odd direction with looks of surprise and agony on their dead, frozen faces. Roy avoided the local church for a while after that.

"That's some seriously fucked up shit." Havoc muttered, having vaguely recalled that particular case of his own accord and was now very much regretting the fact that he'd let himself remember at all.

"When you've been working the way I do for as long as I have, you'll find that a lot of the things I deal with are indeed 'seriously fucked up'."

Falling silent, Roy forced his dark eyes to stare down at the carnage that spread itself on the ground and high up onto the brick wall. As usual, the smell of blood and rotting pieces of flesh was everywhere. The blood itself looked as if someone had taken pretty good aim with a giant paintball gun and found out they only had one round to fire at their target. And the target was the alleyway where cops rummaged around, looking for answers while trying not to throw up.

All the while, Fuery, their mortician and precinct coroner, was moving around from spot to spot, using a strange needle with a digital meter at the end to poke into the various pieces of flesh lying around. It was apparent, from Roy's experience, that he was attempting to local the person's liver to determine the true T.O.D.

_Time of death._ The thought had always bothered Roy. But only a little, never a whole lot. Not to where he couldn't go on or anything, but to where he had to wonder just who the hell wasn't doing their job to ensure such things didn't happen. In this case, it was him.

"What's the verdict Fuery?" he asked between drags of his cigarette, not even bothering to exhale the smoke before speaking.

Kneeing next to a rather large piece of torn flesh, short, spiky black hair glistening a bit in the weak light due to sweat, square shaped glasses giving better vision the a pair of dark brown eyes, Fuery only glanced up at them once before turning back to the meter in his hand, shaking his head as he did so. "Still trying sir. But from just observation alone, I'd say this one's been dead since early this morning."

"Who found this?" they all knew that Roy's question was pointed at Havoc, who answered just as coolly, trying not to look at the bloody mess on the ground and walls.

"Some homeless guy who was lookin' for some day old pizza in the dumpster."

Roy looked around for said dumpster, only to look back at Havoc in honest confusion and annoyance. "What dumpster?"

It was Fuery who came to the other man's defense, not looking up from yet another glob of flesh and drying blood. "I'm sorry sir but it had to be moved so to better access the scene. I'm surprised they were able to get something that size into this kind of tight space."

Mustang just scoffed at this. "Big enough for a dumpster. Almost too small for a murder scene, much less for a murderer and a hobo looking for food. Did he actually see anything?"

"We're still trying to make sense of his street babble. Riza should have a complete statement from him soon." Havoc mused aloud as they both calmly walked away from the bloody scene of the alleyway.

Roy just calmly nodded at their immediate left with an amused smirk on his slightly pale face as he flicked his cigarette butt to the ground before firmly stepping on it, putting out the remaining orange glow at its tip in time to say just one thing to Havoc's statement. "Speak of the devil."

Riza Hawkeye, tall with long blonde hair tied back in a stylish bun, came walking up behind them, her ever-serious face exposing none of her emotions. Eyes of sharp amber glanced down at the bloody mess, causing her to wrinkle her nose before turning away and staring right at Mustang.

"About time you showed up." She said coolly, her voice firm and lacking any sign of annoyance or amusement at Roy's expression. She hardly ever did.

Roy just raised a delicate eyebrow at this comment, feigning surprise at her words of criticism. "Yet another comment on my timing. First I'm early, now I'm late? How'd that happen Hawkeye?"

Standing firm in her own trench coat of desert brown, white office shirt tucked into chocolate brown pants, Riza gave off the impression of a woman who was very committed to her job. One of the many reasons why she'd been assigned as Roy's partner after joining the force a good two and a half years after he did. She'd proven to be a true asset and a constant reminder of mounting piles of paperwork he'd sometimes forget to do when given. The fact that she'd sometimes use her firearm as a means to gain motivation was a bit scary.

Without batting an eyelash, Riza merely went on. "I hardly got anything from our homeless friend. Apparently he's been hanging around a radio or two lately and doesn't want to be the next victim. Whoever's doing this seems to be giving more of an impact than we thought. We'll need to be more careful the next time around."

"If there is a next time." Roy said musingly, shaking his head before scratching his chin in thought.

"Meaning?" Havoc inquired. He needed to know what his superior was getting at.

Roy's black eyes flashed, sharp as knifes as he spoke, looking them both right in their own eyes for emphasis. "Serial killers normally escalate when they know how successful they are. This guy just seems to be going at a steady pace. Almost as if this is his top speed and nothing more. We just need to find out who he's targeting and why."

Unbeknownst to them, out of all the civilians looking on at the many cops and their yellow tape, only one stood out. A bit taller than most but not to where he was considered a giant amidst them all, the figure stared at the three officers standing together in a bit of a huddle. Two blondes and jet-black, an interesting combination since blondes are stereotypically moronic at best. Apparently these two blondes were smart enough to be worthy of being called cops. One blonde being a woman, the other a rather bum looking man. All he needed was to find out their names.

Turning away, the stranger became one with the late afternoon crowds, his strange appearance fitting in with the multiracial wave of people as he walked the street completely unnoticed and as free as any other. A perfect disguise for a killer, the wolf in sheep's clothing getting ready to bare his sharp, bloody fangs once more, to take down another innocent life of his choosing. He had to keep himself from smiling. That would give the impression that he was either a bit too happy about something, or he was up to no good. As he walked away from the unsuspecting police and press, he scanned the crowd for his next kill.

Am I good or am I good? Well, I'd certainly like to think so. If not… then I'm just extremely arrogant in the hour of my own glory. Either way, I hope this new start was worth reading. That's what makes it worth writing to begin with. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you guys on my latest, as well as a few of my other classics that I've had for all to see all this time. So be sure to stick around and see what else I have (just for variety) and if you review, I'll do my best to respond ASAP. In the meantime, let's see what's to come!

Next chapter:

Chapter 2: New Day, Old Hunt

Roy's trying to find the killer's trail, and Ed's looking for a job! Will it be in a safe field, or right in the line of fire? And just who is the man in the crowd? What are his plans anyway? And will our two main character's paths ever cross throughout this story's ever evolving plot? Come back for another dose of '_Departmental Issues_' in:

_**Chapter 2: New Day, Old Hunt!!**_


	2. Chapter 2: New Day, Old Hunt

Here we are once again for yet another chapter to bring yet another original work to new life in new light. Hope you're all enjoying yourselves as you read on to discover what's to come in the next couple of pages. And I sincerely hope I leave a good impression with you guys when I'm through. That would truly rock to me. For my own safety, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form but I think a friend of mine is still trying to get her hands on a Roy Mustang plushie. God I hope I get one first. Enjoy everyone!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thought

Chapter 2: New Day, Old Hunt

He'd worked for a few more hours of the night to organize his new home as he saw fit before giving in to fatigue, giving Edward ample reason to test his new shower after somehow finding his towels. After yet another search that thankfully lasted only a few more minutes, the blonde finally found his bed sheets and dressed himself and his newly found futon for the night. With his nightstand perfectly reassembled and the digital clock with red numbers glaring angrily into the darkness of the room, Ed set the alarm and went to sleep for the first time in a new home and in a new city with hopefully a whole new life.

A good eight hours later, and Ed found himself nearly falling out of bed with his alarm close to screaming the importance of the time into his tired skull. Grumbling over why he'd even set the thing to begin with, the blonde teen sat up and glared at the device before hitting the 'snooze' button and heading for the bathroom. After a good thirty minutes of hot water and brushing teeth and hair, Ed emerged feeling somewhat refreshed but he knew that was something only good food could bring up. Digging around his newly packed bureau for a shirt to cover his bare chest, the blonde teen made his way towards his kitchen, thanking that Winry had been nice enough to get him fresh groceries the day before after getting all his things upstairs.

Pulling out a small carton of milk, two eggs and a package of bacon from the freezer, Ed was soon in search of a frying pan he knew he'd unpacked sometime during the night before. Finding it minutes later, he began the slow but rewarding progress of the traditional breakfast dish of bacon and eggs. Though normally he never really drank milk because it came as an insult to his lacking height, it was soon discovered after he nearly broke his own arm just in time to experience a growth spurt that he realized that drinking milk on a daily basis was good for one's health. So, much to his chagrin, Edward Elric took to drinking the white liquid whenever a meal happened to arise. Trying to maintain consciousness and mind his new stove at the same time, the tired blonde hoped that getting up when he did would be worth the possibly many hours he'd be spending the rest of the day, looking for a job.

--_**With Mustang**_—

The night had been long and tiring. Fuery had managed to collect what little remains there had been of the latest victim to be examined in the precinct morgue by him and another mortician, Vato Falman, their senior coroner. As shown by his oddly 'closed' eyes and spiky grey hair, it was fairly obvious he had a few years on him. It was now around 7:40 in the morning and Mustang had been thankful to have finished his latest cup of coffee before entering the morgue in time to see Falman spreading a small amount of the bloody mess onto one of the stainless steel autopsy tables. Looking up with his practically invisible eyes, Falman acknowledged the raven-haired man's presence with a friendly nod.

"What do we have?" he inquired, standing a respectful three inches away from the table and across from the grey haired man wearing light blue surgeons' gown.

Holding a pen and clipboard with latex gloved hands, Falman just shook his head with a sigh. "The usual, if you can call it that. This guy is a real freak if he goes through the trouble of shreddin' 'em and walkin' away clean."

Roy's smooth, pale face shifted to show confusion, a theory or two running through his mind over their killer's method of walking away without drawing any suspicious attention to himself. "Are you saying he could've done this naked, somehow washed himself off, and walked away as if nothing was wrong?"

"It's possible. But we can't know that until you catch him. From what I can see of this mess and all the other ones before, this guy has some sort of really freaky method that's got everybody stumped. I hope you catch this one real soon Mustang." The mortician said as he set the pen and clipboard aside in time for Fuery to come forward with their autopsy tools on a cart.

"So do I. Thanks Falman." Mustang said calmly giving them both an equally respectful nod before turning to leave.

"Right." Falman simply stated, tracking down his clear plastic shield, making the first incision with an oddly tiny blade just as Roy walked out of the room.

Even after seeing so many just like it, Mustang couldn't help but regret finishing his coffee, leaving a slightly bitter taste in his mouth as he headed back down through the halls and back to the more crowded and livelier parts of the precinct. Weaving his way in and out of others just starting their morning or being the lucky ones to just get off shift with the privilege of going home, Roy somehow made it back to his desk, still wearing the same outfit he'd put on only a full day before. He collapsed into his chair with a tired sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand as the other hung lazily over the arm rest like it'd lost all feeling completely.

"Feeling alright there detective?" Riza inquired as she sat down at her own desk across from his, coffee in a Styrofoam cup, hot and steaming in her hand while staring at him with slight concern wrinkling her smooth features.

He just shook his head, resting his elbows on his desktop to use his hands to rub his sore temples in fatigue. "Other than doin' an all-nighter for the second time this week? I'm fine." Looking her up and down to notice she also had the same clothes on as the night before, Roy scowled from his side of their office space. "What about you? Don't your female instincts tell you to go home and change out?"

"Not particularly. I have to keep you out of trouble remember?" she said smoothly, not even bothering to smirk at his flinch of embarrassment. Riza knew better than anyone that he had a habit of biting off more than he could chew sometimes.

"You hurt me Riza, you hurt me a lot."

The blonde woman just rolled her eyes at his words before looking down at the various papers requiring her attention. "Suck it up. We've got a long day ahead of us."

"Don't we know it?" Roy sighed, leaning back into his office chair before placing his hands over his eyes, his face looking skyward as he spoke again. "Any news on who our latest might be?"

Riza shook her head, but realized that her partner wasn't looking so she just spoke up instead. "Nothing just yet but we have Trace working on it now. They're using the sample we gave them against some of the missing persons files that've been filed in the last few days."

Removing his hands from his face and leaning forward again, Roy let out another tired sigh. "It's a start. Which leads me to think we should try and find someone who can get into this guy's head and see what makes him tick."

"Sir?" she blinked, then stared at her partner in confusion.

This acted as a cue for him to go on to where he was almost rambling on and on in his ever present lack of sleep. "We need an expert. This guy's followin' some sort of agenda that might be religious or psychological compared to most stuff. A psychiatrist or someone who specializes in cults or whatever the hell this guy's into. Anybody who can tell us what the fuck is up with this freak roaming the streets who might be killing people at random."

"That's a bit of a wide search sir. Isn't there anyone we can call?" Riza inquired, hoping that the man had someone in mind for such a task.

Mustang just shrugged, his hands flopping on his desktop like dead fish still trying to move towards the water. "I don't think so but we can try. Find the phone book Hawkeye. We've got some calls to make."

It was her turn to scowl at him, trying to see the logic in such a task. "But sir, wouldn't trying the computer be easier?"

"That's true. You can try the phones. I'll try the computer." He said, promptly turning towards the computer seated on the right hand side of his desk.

Riza knew that he was just trying to get things out of the way quicker by taking the much easier means. But instead of complaining, Riza merely turned to her own and started typing, knowing full well he'd probably slack off anyway. "I'm on it."

--_**With Ed**_—

"Maybe you could go work at the museum! They always have new stuff for someone like you to study." Al said hopefully, knowing now that his older brother knew enough history to fill two textbooks. He sincerely hoped the suggestion was appealing to his older and only sibling.

But Ed just shook his head, scowling a little at the thought of corpses over 200 years old and zombie films he regretted seeing. "No. Too dusty and some of the stuff they handle are way too delicate for someone like me. Besides, I'm looking for more than just a desk job that might send me to Egypt or wherever on a wild goose chase."

Seated next to Al on their couch, Winry decided to try and put in her two cents on the matter. "Why not at the university where I have my mechanics class? I bet you know a bunch of things those old geezers don't! You're certainly old enough Ed. Why not give it a try?"

"I could but I kinda doubt I'll be able to lecture every few hours. That and some of the stuff I might have to deal with might become mundane." Ed grumbled from the armchair seated across from them, glaring into the dark brown liquid known as coffee after Winry gave it to him some time after arriving at their apartment two floors above his own. And so far, their brainstorming wasn't getting them anywhere.

After a moment of silence that filled the room, something finally popped into Al's mind that sounded just perfect. "What about the police?"

Ed looked up from his coffee, giving his younger brother a look of confusion that made him wonder if the other man was out of his mind. "The police? The boys in blue that drive around in their black and whites? Why would I want to become a cop?"

"Not a cop Brother. Work for them! You know, as a profiler? They're always looking for smart people like you to help them with the crazy ones." Al said happily, mainly with himself for thinking of it first. "Why don't you go down there and give it a try?"

"Yeah Ed! It sounds like a really good opportunity to me." Winry said with a kind smile, silently encouraging the blonde to go for it.

"I don't know. Are you sure?" he asked, hoping that what they were suggesting was even close to a good idea.

Apparently it was since Al got to his feet with a triumphant smile, motioning for his sibling to follow him towards the door. "Yeah c'mon! I'll drive you!"

"But I--!" he began, only for Al's expression to change from happiness to austerity that was rare for the boy to use at all.

"No buts! We've been at this for almost two hours! You're going to apply there whether you like it or not. Don't you have certificates or degrees or something?"

Ed scratched his chin, a bit sheepish over graduating Val Victorian in several different fields of study. "That's true but I kinda doubt--."

"Then it's proof you have the knowledge! Get the job, and prove you have the skill and they'll keep you! C'mon Brother. Please?" his sibling pleaded, letting his cool grey eyes do most of the work.

"Okay, okay." Ed said finally, taking one last sip of his coffee before rising from his chair, giving his brother one last scowl. "But if this doesn't work out, the joke's on you."

Al just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just grab your coat and we'll go."

A good fifteen minutes later, and Edward Elric found himself standing outside the NYC police station with a messenger bag full of papers, including his resume, and his can under his arms while his hands were lazily stuffed into his pockets. Red jacket the color of fresh blood or rose petals over his black clothing, Ed stood almost glaring at the building in front of him with annoyance. It'd been true what Al had said back in his apartment some few minutes before. He had the knowledge and the skills to not only be a part of the forensic team, but also be a profiler for a powerful organization like the CIA or the FBI.

But it would seem as if the NYPD would have to suffice since his healthcare insurance only paid for so much now that his leg had gotten better over the years. Trying not to flinch at the memory, the blonde haired twenty-four (1) year old let out a sigh and decisively climbed the stone steps right behind a pair of cops coming in from a patrol who were walking in a nonchalant manner. Coming to stand in the lobby, the two cops walking off towards elsewhere, Ed noticed the front desk was free of the possible arrested druggies or early morning drunks. A bit relieved by this, the blonde then chose to approach the large oval desk.

Sitting behind it was a short haired brunette with square glasses and eyes of dark blue hardly ever blinking as she typed like crazy on the computer in front of her, dressed in the woman's police uniform, the skirt reaching down a little past her knees.

"Excuse me." He called over the sound of chitchat, loud footsteps and the tacking sound of computer keys, with the occasional drunken or angry banter mixed in with it all.

Blinking at the new voice, the woman looked up, adjusting her glasses as she stared back at him in a politely curious manner. "Hm? Yes?"

Hoping he was making a good first impression, Ed smiled and continued. "Is there any way I can see the chief of police? I was hoping to apply for a job here."

"Oh? Well I'm sorry but I think you need an appointment first. But I can check to see if he's free to see you." she said calmly, giving him a kind smile in turn.

Ed had to keep himself from slumping against that oddly tall desk in defeat, despite accepting that the man he wanted to see might not be able to see him right off the bat. "Uh huh."

"Now if you'd just go sit down over there… no, no over there! A rather sickly person occupied those seats earlier this morning. I just hope they actually tried to clean the chairs." The woman warned him, sounding a bit disgusted at the memory of some random drunk suddenly lost his dinner in a public area where she had a front seat view.

Grimacing at the thought of fresh puke and stale beer all over his seat, Ed did exactly as the woman suggested and sat on one of the wooden benches mere inches from the revolving front door. For a few minutes he could only sit there and stare at the ceiling, ignoring the occasional curious glance or inquisitive stares that he received now and again and like in all the other places beforehand. _It's not like I haven't been stared at before people. Just move on already._ He thought as some of the people staring caught his eye and got the message to stop and leave.

A couple more minutes later, the woman behind the desk finally called out to him and waved him forward. Relieved that he didn't have to wait nearly five hours, Ed rose from the bench with the cane's assistance before calmly walking back up to the desk with his own two feet.

"Well it seems today's your lucky day. Captain Bradley will see you in his office which is around that corner and beyond all the desks to your right." She said as she calmly pointed towards the stairs to her right (his left) that obviously led to the main part of the building.

"Thanks. I'll see ya around if I get hired." He said with one last smile and a wave.

Giving him a kind smile, the woman nodded happily before turning to find a cop with a shirtless man, handcuffed and struggling against his grip, ready to be checked in for processing. Ignoring this new dramatic scene completely, Ed calmly walked up the small set of wooden stairs only to be taken aback by the number of desks that filled the entire floor. Blinking away his shock, the blonde scanned the back of the room until he saw the one door he needed to reach, walking past the many rows of desks and towards it as he read the words on the shaded glass window: King Bradley, Chief Of Police.

_King Bradley? What the hell kind of name is that? Were his parents posing as royalty when he was a kid?_ Ed thought, incredulous that the man he was about to meet had the word 'king' as his first name. Hoping not to look like a complete moron, Ed took a deep breath and used his right knuckle to tap the glass.

The response he got was amazingly immediate, a kind but commanding voice answering from beyond the glass and wood barrier. "Come in."

Trying not to seem shy to throw off the man's first impression of him, Ed opened the door as calmly as his fast beating heart would allow to reveal a neat, well dusted office with a black haired man sitting behind a desk with his back to the large windows that adorned the room. Shutting the door slowly behind him, Ed took the time to scan the room's contents, seeing photos, awards and certificates spread all over the place. A bit impressed with the array of papers and plaques adorning the room, Edward chose then to look at the man himself.

Short black hair in a military style allowed to grow out into spikes, King Bradley had a kind expression on his manly face. Mouth hidden by a moustache, straight nose and one eye covered with an eye patch, Chief Bradley looked up from his papers to see the younger adult still standing near the door.

"Ah. You must be the young man Scieszka called me about. Come on in and take a seat. I'll be with you in a moment." His voice wasn't rough, or commanding, but kind and soft only not to the point where it was feminine. It was a man's voice, only it had a gentle sound to it.

"Thanks." Ed said calmly, trying to calm his nervous heart as he moved to take one of the visitor's chairs placed about half a foot away from the desk's edge. The silence was filled with the quick scratch of the police chief's ballpoint pen smoothly gliding over the papers in front of him before he finally picked them up, arranged them in an orderly manner and set them aside. Smiling kindly amidst the sunlight on his back and folding his hands on his desktop in a perfectly calm manner, Bradley finally spoke up again.

"So then! What exactly can I do for you?" he inquired, his voice holding onto the reassuringly kind tone like before.

Ed didn't need any more prompting to get to the point. "Well sir, I was hoping to talk to you about applying for a job here."

His single eye blinking in surprise, Bradley tried to comprehend this foreign statement sent his direction. "Oh? If you're planning on being a police officer then your papers haven't come in just yet. And why you're not in your uniform is beyond me."

"That's not what I meant. I was thinking more along the lines of a job with forensics or anything else that requires extensive knowledge." The blonde man said coolly, successfully reining his anger so as to avoid showing how the man's words had practically insulted him.

"What kind of knowledge are you referring to?" Bradley inquired, eyebrows furrowing into a questioning look.

Leaning forward a little as his hands fell onto his messenger bag, Ed flipped the protective flap over as he started searching its contents. "I have my resume right here if you want to look at it."

Taking the folder out and handing it to the much older man, Ed leaned back into his chair and waited as the police chief calmly skimmed over certain parts of its contents but also taking the time to read others more distinctly. Finally he looked up with a slightly concerned look on his face.

"It says here that you have a medical condition regarding your leg. Has that always been an issue?" the older man asked with a truly concerned look on his face, his voice mirroring his expression.

Shaking his head, the blonde man just shrugged it off. "Not really. The pain comes and goes. If it does bother me enough to where I can't show up, I'll be sure to call in sir."

"Hm. I see. Just how did this happen exactly?"

Ed stiffened, almost to where Bradley noticed the sudden change in the blonde's cool demeanor. "… I'd … rather not go into that."

"Surely you can discuss this with me."

"Let's just say it's a very touchy subject. It happened quite a number of years ago and I fail to see how that's relevant."

"Very relevant. But I think I'll let it slide Mr. Elric." Ed stiffened again, this time at the formal use of his name but said nothing as Bradley went on having not noticed the blonde man's reaction. "However my main concern is how it'll affect you when you're in the field with other officers. But since you're determined to not discuss it, I'll be sure to make note of getting you a health benefit a bit higher standard than most in case your leg does bother you more than it should. Understand I only do this as a precaution. Now, from what I've read in your file that you've brought me, you're more than adequate and I'd have to say that having someone of your level of expertise would be most helpful to us here at the New York Police Department. When can you start?"

Smirking to himself triumphantly, Ed kept his happiness from showing in his voice as he answered. "On Thursday, since that's when I'll probably finish unpacking all of my things from the move into town."

Bradley gave him a kind smile almost as wide as his broad face. "Ah. I see! So you're new to our fair city! Well, I hope that this job will assist you in learning where everything is. I'll be sure to make arrangements to add you to our staff in the labs and hopefully in the field. Until Thursday, 7:30 sharp Mr. Elric."

"Ed, please. Mr. Elric's my dad." The blonde said as calmly as he could, trying to keep his rage over his father's disappearance from showing.

The older man just nodded in recognition of this. "Of course. In the meantime I'll be making a copy of your file here and put into the system so you can retrieve this one when you come in. Come into my office on Thursday Edward and I'll show you around."

"Thanks. Later." he said, shaking the other man's hand and exiting the office with his cane in hand.

Trying to hide his uncontrollable glee over scoring a new job on the first try, Ed walked as fast as his lame but still functional leg would allow. Before heading towards the front door, the blonde man paused at the front desk, leaning onto the oddly tall desktop to smile happily at the brunette sitting beyond it.

"Scieszka was it?" he inquired, his smile hanging on strong.

Looking up and adjusting her glasses, the brown haired woman blinked at him in confusion, wondering what he needed this time. "Um yes?"

"The name's Ed. And I'll be seeing you on Thursday." He said coolly, the smile becoming a grin as the woman's face lit up with a kind smile in return.

"Oh! Congratulations! See you then!" she said, waving as he nodded at her before turning to leave and heading right for his brother sitting in their car.

Waiting until his older brother was situated on the passenger's side of the car, Alphonse turned slightly in his seat to smile hopefully at Edward, his cool grey eyes shining with hope. "How'd it go?"

"I got the job." The blonde said, smiling at his sibling, watching as Al's smile grew to a goofy grin as he practically jumped to hug him.

"That's great Brother! When do they want you in?" he asked, pulling back to allow his brother some breathing room.

Ed chuckled at his brother's reaction but answered nonetheless. "The police chief agreed to letting me come in on Thursday since that's when I should be done unpacking and arranging my stuff. Want to help?"

"Sure! But we have to do some errands first since we're a bit low on supplies and we kinda lent you some of our food." Al said as he calmly buckled his seat belt and gripped the wheel a bit as Ed tossed his bag into the back to do the same.

"Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay." the teen said smoothly, waving off his brother's sheepishness over taking their food from them. "I'm just glad you didn't starve on your first day here."

"My first day was yesterday. Today's my second." Ed deadpanned, trying to keep from smirking at his younger brother's intentional mistake in telling time.

Al just shrugged as he turned the key and used the shift-stick to bring the car out of park. "Eh. Details, details."

--_**An Hour Later**_—

Walking through the long hall towards Al and Winry's apartment door, Alphonse was too busy smiling in his triumph of finding such a good bargain. "Who knew those toaster waffles would be on sale at such a low price!"

"I didn't and I just moved here." Ed grumbled, his voice half sarcastic as he trailed his brother through the door and into the kitchen.

"At least now you don't have to beg us for food." The younger sibling remarked with an amused smirk on his face as Ed just looked at him with a slightly confused expression.

"So I'm guessing that was a one time thing?"

Al just shook his head, the smirk becoming a kind smile. "Not really. Only if you're really sick or something."

"Duly noted. Any other restrictions I should know about?" Ed inquired as he set some of the bags down on the counter, his own lips curving to smirk at his sibling.

Said brother merely shrugged, eyes and hands searching the brown paper bags in search of certain items. "I don't know. Maybe Winry'll think of something."

"Hey!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking!"

Ed scowled angrily, pointing a finger threateningly at his younger brother. "You better be, or you'll find my foot up your ass."

"Are you two boys playing nice?" Winry called as she came walking from down the hall to stand in the kitchen with her boyfriend and his enraged brother.

"He threatened me!" Al said quickly in his defense, pointing his own finger at Ed in the hopes that the girl would believe him.

"Only because you're bein' a smart ass!" Ed snapped, his rage boiling.

Winry just shook her head with a sigh, trying to keep from smiling at how childish the two males were acting despite their ages. "Now, now boys. Keep this up and you'll have to skip dinner."

"But Winry--!" Al began to say before being cut off.

"No buts! Get the food in here and help Ed take his own back downstairs. And when you come back up, wash your hands." She said firmly before speaking again, making them stop on their way back out the door. "And Ed? You're helping."

"But he can't cook!" Alphonse said suddenly, looking almost horrified.

This only made Ed's anger boil right up again at the insult to his culinary skills. "I can too! You just haven't tried it yet!"

"I have! And I nearly died because of you!"

"Now you're askin' for it!" Ed growled, getting ready to give his cane a well aimed swing at his younger brother.

Winry chose then to bring things to a stop before they resorted to blows, giving her voice a harsh edge to emphasize how serious she was. "BOYS! Take it elsewhere or knock it off. Otherwise I won't feed either of you."

This was enough to bring their childish bickering to a halt, their eyes wide at the thought of no food, scurrying with Ed's portion back towards the elevator. Once the metal doors closed on them and Al's overly controlling girlfriend, the two boys gave in to a fit of laughter, at themselves and their ever-familiar words. They'd not had such a fight since they were kid. When they were a family of four, their father was there to be a father and their mother was alive to smile and play with them. Back when life was a dream, and none of them thought they'd ever be apart.

--_**With Mustang**_—

After nearly two hours of searching through countless websites and phone adds, Roy Mustang and his partner Riza were well on their ways to just giving in to fatigue after going in circles for almost half that time. Unsure of what Riza thought about their situation, Roy felt more along the lines of shooting himself and getting it over with. Just as he was about to skim through another page of web addresses on his computer screen, the raven-haired man noticed that the chief of police, King Bradley was heading towards them with a folder in his hand.

Straightening himself a bit in his chair, Mustang hid some of the fatigue from his face as he let his black eyes meet a single dark brown one. "Chief."

He received a kind smile and a nod in turn. "Detective. You and your partner don't need to search for your expert anymore. It seems that one came into my office this morning in search of a job."

"We have an expert now?" Mustang asked, eyes narrowing with what seemed like mock suspicion.

The older man didn't even flinch at Mustang's expression. "That we do. And he's coming back on Thursday to get acquainted with everyone so I suggest you be nice. That means you Mustang."

"Can't make promises I can't keep sir." Roy grumbled as his smooth features regained their detachment.

"Hm. I just hope you can keep this one." Just the fact that Bradley's smile never even lost its kind edge started to grow on Mustang's nerves.

Then he scowled in annoyance. "But in two days sir? Why not now?"

"It seems he's just moved into the neighborhood. Forcing him to come in now without making himself at home would be a little selfish don't you think?" Bradley just kept on smiling, his tone unchanged, his single eye flashing with an emotion Mustang failed to catch.

"I don't know what to think anymore sir. Especially now that we've a psycho freak on the loose, tearing people apart into nothing but bloody messes." The raven-haired man said, waving a hand at the crime scene photos spread everywhere as he leaned back into his chair. By chance, his midnight black eyes then noticed his superior was holding something almost out of view. "What's that in your hand sir?"

Taken a bit off guard, Bradley blinked innocently before seeming to remember he had a folder in his hand. "Surprisingly enough, our expert's file. And I can tell you now it's very extensive and fairly complex. Since this is the only copy for now, I thought you'd like to read it before you meet him Mustang."

"And why would I want to read that thick hunk of tree, sir?" the detective growled in annoyance, trying to hide his surprise at just how unusually thick it was. Almost an inch in size with a manila folder probably older than hell to hold it all together, a few corners sticking out at odd angles, the file looked like it was meant to be in some cabinet that no one opened anymore.

"Because as soon as he reports in and gets used to his new workplace, he's going to be working with you. Get used to him now, or not at all." the older man said coolly, the kind smile never leaving his face for a second, proffering it to the detective in a manner that seemed almost like a death sentence with a coat of sugar. Almost as if taking it from the other man would be the absolute end of him.

Mustang saw no other alternative than to accept the thick folder from his superior and watched the one eyed man walk back towards his office as though nothing between them had occurred at all. Letting out a tired sigh, Mustang let the thick wad of papers come down onto his desktop with a flop, staring at it with mild curiosity and absolute boredom. He could only wonder just what their new expert was going to be like. The last one they had, last he could remember, had to retire due to old age and faulty memory as well as growing heart problems.

Vaguely aware of Riza saying she'd be going for another coffee, asking if he wanted some as well, he just waved her off and brought his attention back to the folder sitting innocently on his desk. Just by looking at it he knew that Bradley was right about their new profiler: he was going to be complex and by its mere size, had a truly large amount of knowledge buzzing through his brain like a hive of angry bees. Hopefully enough to solve the case he was on and put a crazy wise ass behind bars to save a countless number of people from being torn apart like wet rags.

_God I hope its not another crackpot old geezer with something he'd been trying to prove all his life._ He thought to himself as he finally had the brains to flip the thing open to find a photo had been inserted. Mustang blinked. Then blinked again. Who he saw wasn't old at all. Eyes and hair of vibrant gold, a maturing face with a scowl amidst the bored stare that gazed up at him, daring him to mock anything that made him who he was just from a simple photograph paper clipped to a bunch of other papers stacked together and piled into a folder that'd been tossed around a few times. A small part of his brain suddenly snapped to life as he stared that the scowling blonde and the many different papers filling the manila folder on his desk. That small portion of his brain only had one thing to say to him:

This guy is downright complex. It wasn't just the papers and the photo. It was the photo's contents and what the papers contained that proved just how truly complex this twenty-four year old really was. Within a few short minutes of skimming the top pages only to skip around, randomly reading lines here and there did Mustang know for certain that he and this Edward Elric wouldn't be getting along very well at all. Ironically enough, it wasn't until he took a closer inspection of the photo did he realize something completely different.

_Oh my God! This… this kid's my neighbor! When did--?_ His thoughts stopped when the distinct memory of the flash of gold from the day before came to mind, his memory's eye somehow catching a glimpse of the blonde's golden hair in the late afternoon sun, eyes almost like a bird of prey's that pierced the skin with a glance before vanishing into the shadows of the old apartment next to his. A shiver went up and down his spine. Little did he know just how much the blonde man now living next door, his new coworker, was going to change his life.

--_**Meanwhile, With Ed**_—

The blonde had to suppress an oncoming sneeze as he stood watch over a pot Winry had ordered him to guard against boiling and burning. Lucky for him, and their pasta dinner, Edward managed to hold the sneeze in, as well as point his nose away from the boiling water to avoid filling it with snot and germs.

"Good save there Ed. Someone thinking about you?" Winry said with a chuckle from across the room, working at a cutting board at the opposite counter, Al having vanished elsewhere to do the laundry.

Ed merely grunted in his disagreement at this rather odd statement, doubting it completely. "Don't think so. The only people who know me are you guys, the landlord and the chief of police, Bradley I think it was."

Winry just giggled. "Maybe he's spreading the word that you'll be showing up to work for them soon. Does that fit into it?"

"Not sure but I guess it makes sense. Say, how much longer do I gotta watch this thing anyway." He asked, turning to face her as she continued to cut a loaf of Italian bread into even slices.

The girl just let out another amused chuckle at the man's impatience, trying to keep her laughter down as he turned away with an annoyed sneer on his face. "Just a few more minutes Ed. Then you need to stir the noodles until they're done and it's not until then that we can eat. Be sure that you're stirring that sauce too. I made it yesterday and I'd rather not see it burn."

"Yeah, yeah I'm watchin' it." He grumbled, purely annoyed now that he had to stand in one spot for more than five minutes, doing something as droll as watching water boil that almost made watching paint dry look like fun.

When a moment or two of silence went by, Winry decided to break it, her voice low at first before growing with confidence. "Are we going to continue our endeavor unload your old life downstairs? Or are you just putting off your new job because you're trying to get your brother to talk your ear off over his life since you got separated?"

"What about both?" Ed mumbled without turning around.

She nodded, smirking at this response only to remember that he wasn't looking at her right then. "Then I'm okay with that. Though I think you shouldn't be holding back just for his sake."

This response made him curious, causing him to turn around once more to face her, an inquiring expression on his face. "And why's that?"

"He told me all about how you tried to act like you were large and in charge when your father left. Even more when your mom died." She'd brought her voice down a bit, as if in reverence to the woman she never knew, keeping her cool even when Ed looked like he was about to run out of the room in pain. "All I'm saying is don't act like he's goin' to vanish as soon as you look away."

"I guess he told you more than I thought. What else do you know?" he asked, quickly hiding his pained look behind an amused smirk.

"That you're a pretty good brother. And that you're overreacting a bit to your reuniting with your brother for the first time in years. I'm here now remember?"

"Yeah, I know that now Winry. But…" he paused, uncertain of what to say next.

The light blonde haired girl stared at him, curious about what he was trying to say to her before cutting himself off. "But what?"

Ed just shook his head, disgruntled possibly by his own thoughts on the matter as he went on. "I don't know. All I know is that just thinking about how I was dragged off, leaving him by himself, makes me think I was forced to abandon him. I don't want to feel that again."

"Well, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen. Okay?" she said kindly, smiling at him from across the room.

"Thanks. I… think this water's almost ready." He said, looking between the girl on the other side of the room and the pot of water he'd nearly forgotten.

Winry just shook her head, putting down her knife to search the cupboards for the pasta boxes. "So I see. I'll measure out the pasta."

--_**Meanwhile, Two Floors Down**_—

It'd been a few hours since he'd left the office and had come home once again to an empty apartment. Out of curiosity, he'd peaked over his balcony divider to see if the blonde he now to be his neighbor and future coworker was home or not. The lights were off and the curtain was drawn. No sign of life. Mustang let out a tired sigh as he went back indoors, rubbing his face with an equally tired hand.

_Maybe I'm just overreacting. Either that or Bradley lied and wants to mess with my head a bit. Nah. He wouldn't do that. But why tell me about the guy and give me his file to read? Is he trying to make sure he gets comfortable even on day 1? Then what the hell's up with me?_ Leaving such thoughts for later, Mustang walked away from his glass back door and towards his kitchen area. His stomach was screaming to be fed something real and not the remnants of what people called a snack food that barely did anything to satisfy his hunger. After a few years of living on his own, Mustang had managed to teach himself how to cook well enough to where the food didn't burn and tasted good at the same time.

Finding some ham he'd cooked a few days before, wrapped in foil and within easy reach, NYPD detective Roy Mustang prepared a meal for himself so that he could once again feel the price only solitude could bring.

Alrighty then! It seems another chapter has come to a close and my friends? I thank you for your support! And we can thank my friend Danni aka the ness ness for assisting me in coming up with the title for this fic. I had another one in mind but I thought it was crapshoot soooo, asked me friend Danni, got a title and viola! We have a fic in progress! But hang in there now! I promise that things are gonna get hectic come next chapter and it's very much worth the wait. In the meantime:

Next chapter:

Chapter 3: First Day & Counting

It's been at least two days since Ed showed up at Bradley's office. Now, it's time he stayed for the rest of the day to meet the rest of his coworkers to help solve his very first case. A case they'd been working for nearly a month! Can Edward be their miracle worker in taking a killer off the streets? Or will other things get in their way? Find out on the next update of '_Departmental Issues_' with:

_**Chapter 3: First Day & Counting!!**_


	3. Chapter 3: First Day & Counting

Greetings all! And welcome to yet another chapter of '_Departmental Issues_'! I really hope you guys have been waiting patiently since my last update. Disappointing people isn't exactly my forte. Know what I mean? Before we move on, I've only one thing left to say before I let you keep going: I don't own FMA in any shape or form but if anyone can ship me a Mustang plushie, I will love them forever and accept it as a belated birthday present. Enjoy!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thought

Chapter 3: First Day & Counting

Having been left on the curb just outside the police station, Edward Elric had no other choice but to let out a nervous sigh and walk up the stone steps with the slight help from his dark brown cane. The lobby area was just as busy as before, and had a few more people in it than when he'd last seen it. Giving Scieszka a kind wave and a smile, the blonde man headed right for the wooden set of stairs. He could only wince at the pain in his leg was causing him, hating the fact that he'd been forced to bring his cane to his first day of work as the NYPD profiler. Jus the thought of it made him feel a little giddy with excitement, having brought a small cardboard box full of some of his books and notebooks from all the research he'd done in the past. A few of them were empty in case he needed to make notes of anything new. Letting memory guide him, Ed confidently headed right for Chief Bradley's office door.

Knocking on the smoked glass, Ed waited once again, the second time that week, for the man to call 'come in' from his side of the glass and wood barrier. This time, Ed didn't hesitate upon entering the large office space.

"Waiting on me there chief?" he inquired, making the much older man look up in surprise before breaking into his kind smile.

"Edward! Just when I thought you'd slept in on us. You're a few minutes early but I guess that's all right. Wait just a moment won't you?"

"Sure."

He watched the much older man quickly write something down, probably his signature when one thought about the length of the sentence. Ed merely shrugged it off when the man suddenly rose from his chair, smiling kindly at him as he quickly walked around his desk and towards him and the door.

"Shall I show you your office?" Bradley asked, the smile still on his lips as he allowed Ed to back up before walking out and heading to his right (or Ed's left).

The blonde in question looked a bit stunned at this sudden prospect of having an office to himself. "I get an office?"

_And here I thought I'd just get a desk._ He thought, just barely able to hear the older man's words through his astonishment at such an odd thing as getting an office on the first day without working to the bone for it.

"Well since your field of expertise is fairly large and you're pretty much the only one we have right now, you get an office all to yourself. Is that a problem?" Bradley asked, looking back at Ed, who jumped at the man's suddenly curious gaze.

"No! No, not at all! It's just… surprising."

"I bet it is. Here we are!" the police chief said coolly, not even fazed by Ed's hesitation, opening a door somewhere near the end of the hall, the smoked glass window having the word 'profiler' on it with an odd looking divider over it. Bradley didn't have to follow Ed's curious stare to know what he was looking at. "Dr. Carlson, our old profiler's name, used to be there but I'll see if I can't get someone to put yours up there sometime soon. It's still full of some old books and research notes from our last profiler, but I think you'll find them useful sooner or later."

Looking inside, Ed saw that the former profiler Dr. Carlson had indeed been a busy man, the entire room filled with books and notes in a disturbingly organized manner rather than a ominous looking mountain of clutter. The blonde walked inside a little bit to get a better look at some of the books on the shelves that surrounded the main space. His eyes widened at the many titles of books he'd always known existed, but had never managed to get his hands on. _There has to be a book on every aspect of human behavior, the occult and then some in here! Just how smart was this guy?_

"Yeah… I bet I will." He managed to mumble, his voice filled with awe at the new library of knowledge he now had at his disposal.

Thought he continued to smile in his kind way, Bradley didn't miss a beat to distract Ed from the sea of knowledge. "Well! Now that you know where your new home is, why not come and find out who you'll be working with."

This statement was enough to pull the blonde out of his reverie. "Right."

Setting the box down, Ed managed to keep up with the older man's pace as they walked back out into the open office area and right towards another hallway leading to the right of the large room, trying to keep from flinching at the sudden twinge of pain from his wounded leg. A bit curious of where they were going, Ed soon found they were heading for the break room, where a bunch of people were gathered, seated at the small tables and eating donuts, sipping coffee and discussing whatever was on their minds that they deemed important.

Upon entering the room, they all seemed to freeze up and nearly stand up at the sight of Bradley before he waved them down again. Smiling as kindly as he always seemed to do no matter what was going on, Bradley didn't waste any time in speaking up in the new silence.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our new profiler, Edward Elric. He'll be taking over Dr. Carlson from now on."

There were sounds of astonishment and relief coming from all sides as all in the room said their hellos or gave their congratulations to his joining them in the everlasting fight for justice. With some it was both, others choosing to do just one and fall silent for their chief to continue. And continue he did.

"Since it's his first day, I'll require one or all of you to show our new coworker around the precinct since I've a few other matters to attend to." He said calmly, allowing the chatter to rise again as he turned back to Ed, his smile widening to almost a grin. "I'll be coming to see you again later Edward. Oh and here's the key to your new office. I'd hate for you to feel it unguarded when you leave."

"Thanks. And you can just call me Ed." The blonde said, a bit unsettled at the oddly polite way his name was being uttered even in his own presence.

Only Bradley would seem to have none of it. "Nonsense! I'm smart enough to call you by your first name without bringing offense but I still think we're far from nicknames my dear boy! Have good day Edward!"

Mere seconds later and the man was gone without so much as a another glance, turning a corner and vanishing completely. Feeling as if he'd just been left hanging out to dry to be torn apart by rapid dogs, Ed could merely stand in the doorway of the break room and wonder just who would be kind enough to show him around. As if on cue, a rather lazy looking blonde man with a cigarette butt in his mouth almost popped out of nowhere, his blue uniform appearing to have a 'slept-in' kind of look. The man himself had an expression that just begged for a good night's sleep. Much more so than his clothes most likely, by the way his cool stare met Ed's sharp gold eyes.

"So your our profiler huh? Name's Jean Havoc." The man grumbled, looking almost bored out of his mind.

Ed gave him a confused look. "Havoc? Were your parents weird?"

"No, just foreigners but that's okay. Your name ain't too normal either." the man said calmly, cool grey eyes not even flinching at his own remark. Much to his surprise, Ed just grinned in amusement.

"Well at least we don't have weird accents. So you volunteering for the tour guide gig or what?" the blonde inquired, the grin turning into a cool smirk.

Havoc was taken off guard by this odd response but shrugged at the question anyway, as though he could truly care less. "I guess, since no one else rushed to their feet to help. Might as well be me. C'mon kid. You got plenty to see."

Letting himself be led out of the room and back into the hall, all the while ignoring the 'kid' part of the man's last sentence, Ed followed the lazy bum of a blonde further down the hall and away from the hustle and bustle of the main area. Further down, the noise dimmed into nothing as the lights turned more and more blue rather than the common yellow, Havoc not really faltering when they passed a long metal cart covered in thick, clear plastic, a pair of feet sticking out from underneath. Ed felt a bead of sweat roll down his face at the sight but dared say nothing about it as the older man led him even further down the eerie hallway. It wasn't very long after that they came across a set of double doors, the smoked glass windows bearing only one self explanatory word: morgue.

Staring almost curiously at these dark letters upon the glass, Ed was brought out of his thoughts at Havoc's calm and lazy voice. "Thought that since you're our profiler now and such, you'll be comin' in here a lot from here on in. Only fair you meet the dudes that slice open the victims like science lab frogs."

Ed had to force himself to smirk again amidst the carts holding the dead and their foul stench of decay. It was things such as these that reminded him too much of what'd happened mere years beforehand. "You always this sarcastic?"

"Not really." Havoc deadpanned.

"Huh. Seems like you are." The blonde chuckled, this time for real.

"Yeah well. I ain't so don't think I'll always be crackin' a wise one." The older man grumbled, not looking too pleased with being there himself. "C'mon and meet the guys before I get creeped out."

"What? You afraid that our guests might wake up as zombies?" a voice suddenly asked from shadowy hallway that went on to their left, Havoc seeming to jump out of his skin while Ed just turned to face the newcomer with a curious look on his face.

A tall man with grey hair and eyes that appeared to be closed came forward in a white lab coat, dressed in fairly casual attire underneath as he smirked at the pissed looking lazy bum who expressed his annoyance and ire. "Dammit Falman! That ain't funny!"

"Zombies?" Ed asked, wondering what the hell was going on.

The man now named Falman merely let his smirk become an amused grin as Havoc's eyebrow twitched in seething rage while he spoke as though the man wasn't even standing there. "Ol' Havoc here nearly pissed his pants when someone brought '_Dawn Of The Dead: Director's Cut_' over on Halloween last year. Those of us here in morticians, much less everyone else, hasn't let it go since then."

"Zombies?" Ed asked again, this time at Havoc, trying to keep from laughing at the thought that a grown man was scared of a mythical being.

"Give it a rest already! Jesus Christ!" Havoc snapped, a vein pulsing on his forehead, getting ready burst at any moment. "Anyway, Ed? This is Vato Falman, the head coroner here at NYPD, so you'll probably be talkin' to him a lot."

At the sound of the younger blonde's name, Falman was instantly distracted from his coworker's outbursts to realize why the man's name was so familiar. "Ed huh? You gotta be that new profiler guy Bradley was braggin' about two days ago! It's good to know we've another specialist in the building after Carlson left." It wasn't long before Falman looked down to notice something in the blonde's hand, seeming to hold him up rather than balance alone. "What's up with the cane?"

Ed merely shrugged. "Old injury. Hurts now and again but other than that, I walk like everybody else."

"Say, where's Fuery?" Havoc inquired, thankful that the subject had changed from his embarrassing fear of the undead.

"He's finishing up in the back right now and won't be out til later. I guess you can introduce them later. In the meantime, I suggest you leave before you hurl when you see my next customer." Falman said jokingly, making Ed chuckle softly.

Havoc just looked disgusted at the thought. "Ugh. Don't even try to describe 'em to me. I kinda want to keep my breakfast."

"Nice meetin' ya Ed!" Falman called before passing through the double doors of the morgue, waving at the two as they went further down the hall, walls of plaster turning into large windows of clear glass.

"Thanks. Later!" Ed called in turn before turning back to his guide. "Well that was interesting. You always so queasy around the dead?"

"And you're not?" the older man asked, looking back at the younger blonde as if in disbelief someone so young was unfazed by the site of the deceased.

"Not anymore."

They walked in silence for another minute before Havoc stopped in front of one of the open doorways leading into a large room full of machines.

"Well here we are at forensics. DNA and all that weird blood and trace evidence stuff that totally confuses the hell outta me. Hey Denny. Trying to think of a way to get Maria to date you?" the man suddenly asked another, who turned to reveal that he looked a bit on the pathetic side. His face was that of absolute misery, his dark eyes teary with sadness and confusion, as his dirt blonde hair that came down to his shoulders didn't do much to hide his expression.

"Wouldn't you?" the man asked, giving the lazy cop a beseeching look.

Havoc didn't even appear to be moved by the man's puppy eyed expression. "I would if she didn't turn me down the last 17 times I asked her. At least, unlike most of my girlfriends, she was nice about it."

The man just slumped with a sigh of defeat. "Yeah well, I don't think she even notices me man. Anyway, what can I do for ya?"

"You can say hello to our new guy, Edward Elric."

"Elric huh? So you're the profiler Bradley was talkin' about. You're…"

Ed instantly felt his anger begin to seethe at the man's hesitation. He knew full well what the man was going to say. "What?"

"You're a bit shorter than I thought you'd be." he said calmly, only to be taken off guard by Ed's powerful reaction.

"WHO'S SHORTER THAN A FRICKIN' PYGMY THE SIZE OF A TODDLER?" Ed suddenly snarled, somehow getting his hands on one of the laboratory stools to hold over his head like a sledgehammer that was shaped wrong.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's not what I said!" the man squeaked, practically running away to hide behind a rather pale woman with short black hair, dark blue eyes and rather confused look on her face.

"Hey! What's going on in here?" she asked, trying not to appear threatened by Ed and his Stool of Doom.

Havoc peeked out from behind the island counter to point right at Edward and his demonically angry face. "The new guy's havin' a temper tantrum."

"Maria! Save me!" the blonde man behind her pleaded, looking like he was about to cry his eyes out and piss himself at the same time.

"Alright that's enough. You can put the stool down now…" she hesitated, trying to put a name to his face as he held the thing over his head threateningly at the blonde now hiding behind her back, using her white lab coat like a shield.

His anger having waned some, the blonde merely smirked in understanding of the woman's confusion. "Name's Ed. And you'll be seein' more of me when I get on my first case as profiler here."

"Well then, I'm Maria Ross. And they guy you're about to beat to death is Denny Brosh, and I kinda need him to help me get samples tested and such." She said calmly with a smile, pointing at the crying man hiding behind her slim form in the hopes of escaping death.

It wasn't long before Havoc had come back out of his own hiding place to stand a bit more in the open like before. "Say Ed… if you were gonna hit him with a stool…why not hit him with your cane?"

"What? Hell no! If I break it over his stupid ass, I'll need to look around for a new one! Besides, why break a good cane when you can use a stool that can be replaced a gazillion times?" he inquired, grinning almost like a demon on sugar, making Denny flinch from his hiding spot.

"Okay. That's… a weird argument. But I think you should really put that stool down now."

Ed gave her a confused look, the grin vanishing instantly at her statement. "And why's that?"

Maria just smirked knowingly. "I need it if I'm going to test this sample from a case I'm working on."

"Ah. Sorry." he sheepishly set the metal and vinyl object back on its feet as the dark haired woman smiled back at him.

She merely shook her head, waving away the apology. "It's okay. As long as you don't really hit him with it, you're free to swing it at him."

"Maria! Why are you being so cruel? Did I say something to offend you?" Denny said piteously, sounding like a wounded man as he gripped her coat, making Ed snicker at his pleas for attention.

Havoc, on the other hand, had had enough. "Let's skidaddle before things get really hectic in here."

Ed had to keep from laughing himself blue at Denny's actions, Maria ignoring him as she set to work before he moved away with a sulky look on his face. It was then that the blonde realized that working in such a busy place might actually turn out to be very fun.

--_**About An Hour Later**_—

Ed sat back in his new office chair with a tired sigh, having managed to grab a cup of coffee from the break room after Havoc dragged him almost all the way through the building and back again just to show him where everything was and who was in charge there. After separating from the lazy smoker because he and his partner, Heymans Breda, short, a bit chubby with short dark red hair and beard, had to leave for a patrol around the west side of the city. From what Ed could tell, Breda was constantly in a pretty good mood and was usually laughing about something. Something the blonde saw to be extremely opposite to Havoc's constantly bored or depressed demeanor. For the time being, Bradley had yet to pop up again to show him who he'd be working with on his first case.

In order to pass the time without resorting to wandering around looking around like a moron, he decided to organize what few books he'd brought over as well as some of the notebooks he knew he'd be using later on. Along with taking a look at all the other books and notes that the former profiler had left behind when it was discovered that he had multiple health conditions. Sipping some coffee he'd hoped hadn't gone cold in the near hour he'd been sitting around doing almost nothing, Ed skimmed through some rather old notes on what appeared to be an overly religious man with a fetish for well manicured hands. Apparently the man had an abusive mother who'd always been fussing over her nails and hands to the point where she'd check them now and again while beating him near to death.

Ed forced himself not to shiver. Now that's just one weird turnout. He thought as he closed the notebook to open another one, only to find its contents nearly as bad as the first. Finally he gave up and rubbed his face with his hands. What some people do to their kids these days… it's a wonder I'm not crazy.

Just when he was about to skim through a few more of the notebooks still lying about in disorganized stacks on the edge of the desk, his door opened to reveal another blonde. A blonde woman to be more precise, walking not with a feminine stride, but one of almost masculine purpose. Wearing a white office shirt and dress pants over plain black shoes, the woman didn't hesitate to enter the room and face him as he sat in his chair, looking up at her in curiosity. Her face was stern to where it was almost cold and uncaring. Blonde hair pulled back into a neat bun like style, the ends poking up in the back while evidence of its existence hung neatly underneath. Her brown eyes were sharper than a knife as she spoke.

"You Edward Elric?" her voice was stern, almost demanding.

Edward had to keep his own steady long enough to not seem nervous under her ominous gaze. "Um… yeah. Can I help you?"

"I'm detective Riza Hawkeye." She said coolly, not missing a beat. It was obvious she wasn't much for wasting time. "I was told by Chief Bradley that you could assist my partner and I on a case we're having trouble with."

"That so? And why didn't Bradley come and tell me himself?" Ed had to ask, a bit perplexed that the man he'd met mere days before was already unable to keep a promise to a new employee.

Despite Ed's calm and unruffled questions, Riza still seemed to flinch with some form of regret over her employer's lacking promptness. "Chief Bradley said that he'd be in a meeting for the next hour and asked me to come find you. He sends his apologies on not telling you your first assignment himself."

"I see. Alrighty."

He didn't need to notice how the woman hesitated again when he stood, using his cane as a means to stand since now his leg was really starting to cause him shooting pains all the way up his thigh. When she spoke to him again, it was in a reluctant tone. "I-if I may…."

"Hm?" he grunted, looking at her curiously, his cool stare making her hesitate.

She didn't want to sound rude or intruding upon first meeting him, but her question ate at her until she finally stammered. "Why… why do you have a cane?"

"Always have. I'd rather not talk about it." Ed said coolly, shrugging the question off as though all she did was stare, passing her to stop and turn at the door. "Well c'mon."

"Right." Riza tried to say calmly, moving to walk ahead of the shorter blonde as she regained her stoic demeanor. "This way."

Heading to their right, the woman led them down the hall until they came across a medium sized room with a table and a few chairs in the middle. Near the end of said table and at the farthest wall stood three things: two dry erase boards covered in writing and photos… and a raven-haired man who looked to be in thought.

"Mustang." She got no response from the man standing in front of one of the boards as he seemed to skim the writing and the photos with his back to them. This lack of reaction only made Riza bristle a little. "Mustang!"

"Ugh. What Hawkeye?" he grumbled, turning to her with eyes of midnight black that looked like they needed to be shut for a few hours. It was seconds later that they seemed to vanish, never looking at Ed as they fell on the dry erase boards again. As if he was completely disinterested in their presence. Despite the man's fatigue, Ed couldn't help but notice just how young the man appeared, making him wonder if he was younger than he should be.

Riza's cool reply brought Ed out of his thoughts, not even bothered by the man's distracted behavior towards them. "When you're done staring at the board, you'll see that we've some extra help?"

"Oh really?" the man named Mustang turned around, eyes finally falling onto Edward, ignoring the shock of how young the blonde looked in person. Instead he smirked coolly, a look of mischief overtaking his ink black eyes. "Oh look. A shrimp."

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A SHRIMP SMALLER THAN A BUNCH OF PLANKTON PUT TOGETHER?" Edward roared angrily, catching Riza off guard while the man named Mustang only looked slightly amused.

Mustang forced himself not to crack up laughing at the blonde's reaction. "I said nothing of the sort. Though little did I know that our new profiler was so… short-tempered."

"I ain't short you bastard!" Ed snapped, looking enraged as he brought his cane's long, wooden shaft to be in his palm as if ready to use the end as a club.

"It's 'am not'. And yes, you are." Mustang said calmly, his smirk threatening to spread into a triumphant grin. It was mainly the blonde's sharp eyes that prevented this from occurring. Never had he seen such vibrant color in his life.

Ed looked as if he were about to let out another outburst of rage when Riza decided it was high time she acted as peacemaker before things got violent. "Maybe we should start explaining what we're investigating before Bradley has reason to have us all fired."

Mustang seemed to accept this, his face retaking its grim expression from before as he nodded at the woman. "Fine then. Edward I presume?"

"Get on with it." The blonde growled, just daring him to unleash another insult at his lacking height. Despite being at least four inches shorter than both of the seasoned cops, not daring to think it was more.

Ed was greatly surprised when the grim expression remained as the man near the end of the room merely picked up a pile of papers and started sifting through them, as if to refresh his memory a little. "Alright then. Our case is fairly perplexing. Serial killer who has a habit of turning his victims into splattered piles of blood and guts with barely even a bone left in one piece to help identify the 'body'. Likes to corner them in alleyways or dead ends where they either can't get away or have very little room to move around in. We found almost five that were in abandoned warehouses or apartments but we've reason to believe that those responsible are just copycats."

Half listening to this list of findings, Edward readjusted his grip on his cane as he approached the boards, staring curiously at the writing and the grisly photos as Riza circled to sit in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the table. It wasn't long before Ed spoke as soon as Mustang finished. "How many has this guy managed to get?"

"At least twelve."

The blonde looked appalled. "Twelve? Are you serious?"

Mustang just looked incredibly tired. "Perfectly serious. This guy seems to kill in a two week time period."

"When was the last killing?" he inquired, his horror giving way to a purely serious expression.

It was Riza who answered this time. "Three days ago."

_That's when I first moved here! Something tells me that waiting to come in was a bad idea. Better late than never._ He thought, almost hating himself for not coming to help sooner. Ignoring his frustration with himself, Ed kept his thoughts focused on what was before him, practically looking Mustang right in the eye. "Okay. Do you have more photos of the scenes than these you have here?"

Taken aback by the blonde's audacity to look at him so fully with eyes of hauntingly sharp color and beauty, Mustang tried to keep himself from blushing. His photo didn't compare to the real deal. "Uh… yeah. In that folder on the table to your right should be the one. Why?"

At first, Ed said nothing as he swiped up the folder, hanging his cane on the back of a chair as he skimmed over the many photos, completely unaffected by the brutal way they appeared, much less the disturbing reality that these people had been torn to shreds without a sound. "This… is really odd." He said after a while, looking up at Mustang with a look of concern. "Were there ever any markings on the walls? Any at all?"

Riza shook her head, looking truly confused at this point at Ed's questions. "Not that we could see. It's possible he hasn't thought about it or hasn't gotten around to it just yet. Why? Is something the matter?"

"It's possible…." He mumbled, trailing off as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"What's possible?" she asked, Mustang looking just as intrigued as his partner.

Ed's lips looked thin, his expression grim and his lightly tanned skin looked almost pale in the artificial lighting of the meeting room. "It's possible that I've seen this kind of thing before."

It was Mustang's turn to look horrified as he exclaimed. "What? How?"

The blonde man merely shook his head. "I'm not sure. But there's something really familiar about this guy's method. Only I can't put my finger on it."

"Well, if you know something we don't, now's a good time to tell us." Riza advised, looking relieved that they _finally_ had something to work with.

"How long has this been going on?" Ed asked suddenly, looking between Mustang and Riza for answers.

"Almost three months." Mustang said with a defeated sigh, looking even more tired than before.

Ed began to rub his chin again in resolute thought. "Hm. Then, if I'm right… your supposed five extra victims aren't from copycats."

"WHAT?" the blonde winced when both of the detectives yelled in unison, into each of his ears, leaving them ringing like bells.

--_**Meanwhile, Elsewhere**_—

The last few days had been relatively boring since there was really no one to chase around before coming down on them to quickly slay them like a hawk does to a mouse when the need to feed becomes stronger than anything. For him, it was the need to kill another 'innocent' person that was eating away at him like a pent up anger that needed to be vented before it could cause any real damage to others around him. It was like a nagging monstrosity in the back of his mind, demanding to be heard even when he wasn't even trying to ignore it.

Walking the busy streets of New York was sometimes barely enough to sooth the raging creature in his head, sometimes taking on the faces of those he'd known in the distant past and were demanding to be given attention. It was these familiar faces he ignored the most when it came to the thing in his mind. He always ignored the faces that haunted him nearly every hour of the day. There were times where even sleeping didn't get rid of them. Which explained why he hardly ever slept anymore anyway. Then… he spotted his next hit. The new prey, fresh meat to put on the table that was ready to be cooked and served like a rare dish.

'It' was walking as though 'it' had a mind of it's own, a life and a name. For him, none of them had names. They were just people, things he chose to rid the world of as they didn't even matter that much at all. And to him… they never really did. But they did have faces, various features as well as clothing. Never names. He found names distracting from what he really wanted to do. Kill.

So, his new target was still walking down the street like they had nothing better to do with their time, despite heading in a fairly specific direction to show they were indeed going somewhere other than some random building or apartment. 'They' was actually a she, compared to most of his victims who happened to be males rather than females. He then noticed that he referred to 'them' in gender. Not as distracting as names, but not as useful as faces, features and clothing. But it was enough to assist 'features' sometimes, especially since one man had been a bit small, another having been almost as big as he was. Nonetheless, they died the same way.

From what he could observe of his new target, she was slim but not to where she had no meat on her bones. Just enough to make a few of the men that she passed to actually pause and turn to watch her go. He could only smirk in amusement at their awed gawking as she vanished into the crowd, nameless to the men who were even lucky to see her at all. While she was still alive and breathing anyhow. Determined to make this overly confident woman a masterpiece on a wall, he moved to walk after the nameless woman to ensure that she never got too far ahead for him to track.

--_**In The Meeting Room**_—

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye could hardly believe what they'd just been told by their newly acquired profiler and forensic expert. Riza had never truly been bias about anything before, but Roy was finding the news of there being no copycats running around to be a bit hard to comprehend. "Mind running that by us again?"

Ed merely shrugged the question off, thankful his ears had stopped ringing in time to hear the man's inquiry. "To be honest, I didn't think I'd ever see a case like this. But since it's so similar to another case I read about, I can only assume that the killer's come out of hiding for another round."

"And where did you read about this 'similar case'?" Mustang asked, still very skeptical that this… this _kid_ would know more about a serial killer than they did.

"The notes that I happen to have aren't here, and are a bit hard to discern since I didn't write them. I'll need time to look through my things to see if I can't track them down for us to review. For now, all we've got is your evidence and my memory." Ed turned to the raven-haired man with a smirk on his almost boyish face, as if to taunt him into getting into something that he'd never get out of. "All right, Detective Bastard?"

"Sure thing, Half Pint." He said in turn, completely unperturbed by Ed's cocky expression that vanished as soon as the last two words left his lips.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A HALF PINT THAT CAN'T REACH OVER THE EDGE OF A SHOT GLASS?" Ed practically screeched, snatching up his cane again to swing it at the raven who wisely backed out of range.

"You apparently." He said just as coolly, not helping but smirk at his triumph.

This only pissed the blonde off even more. "Bastard!"

"So Edward, what can you tell us?" Riza said suddenly, hoping to distract the blonde man long enough to do the job he'd been hired to do.

Anger completely forgotten for the moment, Ed turned back to the blonde woman with a fairly thoughtful look on his face, letting his cane rest its rubber end on the floor where it belonged. "Just Ed is fine. And I can tell all that I can remember really. Other than that, I'll have to research. A lot."

Riza nodded, smiling a little at the blonde man's compliance with her distractive inquiry as Mustang calmly went back to staring at the boards. "Fine, as long as we actually get somewhere. Now just by looking at the photos by themselves, what can you tell us?"

"Only that this guy hasn't changed all that much. He's probably picking his victims at random. Most likely people who act as if they're masters of the earth or what have you." Ed said calmly, obviously thinking back to the other case he'd said he'd read about, comparing then and now in a very efficient manner in his head.

This statement was enough to bring Roy back into the conversation again, his face brought into a bit of a scowl. "Like… businessmen?"

"Somewhat like that." The blonde said nodding, his face scrunched up in disgust and thought. A perfectly serious face that Mustang couldn't help but find cute for some reason, fighting down the urge to smile and laugh. "Individuals who appear to be overconfident, or even look like they're egomaniacs hell-bent on showing others how superior they are. And when it comes to gender, this guy doesn't really care."

Riza looked just as confused and Mustang did. "Why kill these people? Does he really have a motive at all?"

"I don't think so, but if one were to guess, it would be in the hopes of making everyone else humble." He said, looking down at the folder of photos he'd set back down onto the table, focusing his attention on the bloody red mess that appeared to have been a human torso. And what shocked both detectives was how unaffected he was about it.

Mustang had to distract himself from how strange the blonde's mental endurance was over staring at gory pictures. "Humble? What kind of crap is that?"

Ed looked up at them both, his golden eyes flashing as memories and school taught knowledge came into play. "The overly religious kind. This guy sees himself as a messenger of God. So, by killing others who show their egos off more than others, they become instant targets."

--_**Meanwhile, Somewhere In The City**_—

Getting closer got easier with each one. The last had an expensive Armani suit on of a nice cool grey color that fitted him well enough for him to pass as a CEO. If only he wasn't so young. Then it would've been convincing. But not to him, no, he didn't really care all that much for age either. Unless they were too old to be worth his time, and too senile or fragile to really know what he could possibly do to turn them into human paper balls. That's the only time he actually bothered to care about age. But now, he could give a rat's ass about age. She was young, appeared to be full of herself and was now leaving the building she'd entered mere minutes before. He only had a few moments before he could take her off guard.

He was starting to love the city. All the passages and alleyways that one could use for whatever purpose you had. It almost made him giddy with delight. Almost. Several million people all around, and none would even see a damn thing. Almost too good to be true, to where it was practically pathetic. Way too good. And it was perfect. Keeping the grin from showing on his face, he walked a little faster, coming up right behind the woman walking oh so confidently down the street, both closing in on an opening between two run down buildings. It was now, or never.

Within seconds he was right behind her, knowing for sure that if he planned it just right and at the right moment, it would all appear to be an accident. Just as she came upon the alleyway's entrance, he did the one thing that would make himself less suspicious as well as having worked perfectly on all the others: he tripped.

Not tripped per se, but he did stumble well enough to look as though he'd lost his footing on a crack in the concrete, or that one of his large legs got in the way of the other enough to cause an imbalance. She let out a startled cry and a curse of surprise and annoyance at being bumped into by another. It'd taken a few tries on some of his first number of targets, but now he had it down pat. In one fluid motion, he'd pretended to trip and, by using his strong arms, wrapped them around the woman and carefully rolled them both into the dark. He knew now to avoid any puddles in said rolling. The last time he'd rolled them through a puddle, the woman he'd chosen nearly screamed his ear off for at least ten minutes. This one wouldn't have such a reason.

"Sorry." He said calmly, trying to sound apologetic over his 'accidental' actions just in time for the woman to glare up at him.

"You'd better be sorry you--!" she didn't have a chance to say more as he suddenly pulled a piece of white cloth from his pocket and practically slapped it over her mouth and forced her to stand up, twisting one of her arms to ensure she couldn't run.

Fear filled her once fiery eyes as he made sure no one was looking before pulling her away from the street and further into the dark, never to be seen alive again.

Woot! It's finished! The most anticipated chapter of the month is finished! And I seriously hope I haven't kept you guys waiting too long. That would suck. So, I'll just get right to it. Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 4: Old Cases & New Notes

Roy and Riza are glad to have something to work with, but hope they're not too late to catch a madman on the lose. Will Ed pull through in time to help save another innocent soul from the devil in man's clothing? And will Roy ever figure out how get on our favorite blonde's good side? Find out in the next '_Departmental Issues_':

_**Chapter 4: Old Cases & New Notes!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Old Cases & New Notes

I'm back for another round! One can only hope that you are too! Last time, Roy and Ed met for the first time. Now can they work together without letting their egos get in the way of their judgment? Read on and find out! And just so everyone knows: Ed is 23, Al and Winry are about 22 while Roy and everyone in the precinct are in their mid to late twenties with Mustang going on 30 but for right now he's 29 ½. Just so ya know. I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form, though tracking down a Mustang plushie would be awesome. Enjoy!!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thoughts

Chapter 4: Old Cases & New Notes

Having managed to retreat back to his new office with a copy of the case folder in his hands to review, Ed found that in the near half hour he'd been gone, his coffee had turned ice cold. Muttering his annoyance under his breath, he merely came to ignore the more than half empty mug of the cold brew sitting on his new desk. Little could be done about looking through the piles and piles of notes and books now that he had his first case to deal with. Such things would have to wait until later. Much, much later when he could think more clearly. Using his fingertips to massage his temples, Ed tried to remember where he'd seen this kind of almost mindless slaughter before.

_I know I've seen this before. But where?!? Dammit to hell. And to think I'd get to deal with something less brutal. So much for that thought._ Cursing his bad luck to the ends of the earth, the blonde tried to concentrate on recalling the case itself. Staring down at the bloody photos, Ed tried to place himself at the scenes where the remains of once full-bodied people lay splattered on the ground and walls like silly putty suddenly tossed carelessly at the surfaces.

From what he could remember of the old case where such similar things had been found as in the recent photos, the man responsible had been deemed mentally unstable, his behavioral patterns disturbingly erratic for reasons yet to be identified. Since then, he'd been quiet, having vanished into thin air, leaving not even a hair behind to trace him with. That'd been nearly 8 years ago, back when he was still in high school and was just then beginning to become curious in forensic science.

_But why here? Why now? Is this the same guy? Or is it someone else trying to finish the job for him for some reason? Why are there no markings on the wall like in the other case?_ Ed found that he couldn't even think straight anymore now that old memories and new information were beginning to mix together in a way that was proving fairly unpleasant. Only one thought broke through all the confusion that was sending him reeling: _I need to get some more coffee._

Rising from his chair with a sigh of defeat, Ed nearly sat back down again when the scarred muscles in his leg twitched in protest to his casual movement. He had to bite down a hiss of pain, closing one hand into a fist as he used the other to try and coax the muscles in the side of his leg to let him move freely like so many times before. There had been times when the leg stubbornly refused to be convinced, leaving him stranded in a chair for close to four long hours. Other times, like he hoped it would be now, it only took a few minutes to persuade the muscles into performing their function.

As the pain ebbed away at last, Ed tried again, this time, met only by a fading ache in his damaged limb while he reminded himself to take his painkillers upon returning with his new coffee after dumping the old one. Grabbing his cane and his coffee mug, Edward was able to cross the room and half exit when someone almost immediately appeared in his path. Nearly dropping the mug and losing his grip on his cane handle, Ed could only blink that instead of seeing a chest, he was looking at a man's stomach that was nearly five times wider than a normal human's. Naturally confused by this extremely oddball display of the human abdomen, Ed could only look up.

Looking down at him was a purely masculine face, chiseled almost like a bust put onto a living body, the large light blonde mustache covering the man's mouth entirely as a small curl of hair hung delicately off the tip of his forehead. And nothing about the large man was plump or fatty. From what Ed could see, everything was pure muscle that'd been worked into their present shape through sheer hard work and determination on the man's behalf.

_It's almost like looking at Charlie Brown, only older when he develops gigantism and looks like he's on steroids!_ Ed thought to himself, trying to figure out whether or not to stare at the large man in awe or in instinctive fear. If the man proved hostile in any way, he'd have to go with fear. Before he could even say a word, the much larger man spoke first.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry my dear boy! I'm afraid I didn't see you there. My height has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations." He said calmly, looking a little pleased with speaking of his heritage.

Fighting down a confused expression, Ed hoped not to sound startled at the man's extraordinary size. "I-I see that. Uh… can I help you?"

Almost instantly the man beamed at him, speaking in an obviously formal manner probably akin to his upbringing. "Yes, indeed you can! I'm looking for an Edward Elric?"

"That's me. And you can just call me Ed." The blonde had to say calmly, a smirk on his lips as he moved to sip his coffee, only to grimace at the memory of it going cold some time before. He hated drinking cold coffee.

At the grimace, the man didn't seem to notice as he merely chuckled before speaking again in his deep and booming voice. "Nonsense! You're too new here for such informality! I only wish to show my respect by addressing you as such."

"O-okay. So… what do you need?" Ed had to inquire, having trouble ignoring the man's height through an innocent question.

Only thing was, now his more than half empty mug distracted the man, tiny eyes blinking before seeming to blush at his own ignorance. "It would seem that you're in need of more coffee. Would you like me to get you some Edward?"

"Uh… no I—Gah!" the large man would have none of it as he suddenly bent down to turn the blonde around before picking him up, placing the petite adult onto his large shoulder. Ed made his opinion immediately known. "P-put me down!"

The man didn't seem to be listening to the smaller blonde anymore. "Never fear! I, Alex Louis Armstrong, will assist you in retrieving your new refreshment!"

"Are you crazy? I can walk you know!" Ed nearly squeaked, only then realizing the true extent of the man's height now that he could truly estimate how tall he was. From what Ed could determine, he was now sitting about 8 ½ feet off the ground.

The large man he knew now to be Armstrong didn't seem to be aware of Ed's uncomfortable position on his shoulder, seeming to be too caught up in his own antics. "I have heard of you condition Edward Elric, therefore, I shall assist you!"

Ed knew right then and there that something about the man's statement simply didn't sound right at all. Paling and fearing the worst, Ed tried to think of a way to talk the man out of whatever he had in mind. "W-wait a second!"

He never had a chance to say more as the large man practically sprinted down the hall and towards the break room, causing people to yell out in surprise and protest, with Ed desperately trying to hang on even though he had a mug and cane in his hands. Just as soon as the frightening run had begun, Armstrong came to a sudden but controlled halt, almost making the blonde man on his shoulder to come flying off if not for the large hand holding him in place.

"We have arrived at your destination Edward Elric." Armstrong said calmly, looking at the blonde on his shoulder who was using a free hand to cover his face, hiding the look of horror and dizziness from view.

"Just Ed is fine." He grumbled, trying to keep from losing his balance, his cane barely enough to act as a counterweight to prevent his falling backwards.

"Of course Edward." Armstrong said just as calmly as before, not even bothered by Ed's shaky demeanor.

The blonde in question didn't bother trying to argue on the matter as he struggled to keep his voice from cracking. "Whatever. Just… just put me down already."

Nodding at the request, Armstrong bent down to let the blonde man step down onto solid ground again, looking a little curious at how Ed nearly slumped against the wall but somehow managed to stand on his own.

_Sweet Jesus in God! That was insane! Just who the hell is this guy?_ Trying not to think about the muscled behemoth standing patiently behind him, Ed tried to catch his breath in time to calm his panicked heart. Even the change in sudden altitude had made him a little dizzy, making him wonder if the man was just a mountain with legs, or at least to be a huge tree made of flesh and bone rather than wood. Somehow pushing back the urge to lose his breakfast, Ed managed to regain both his balance and sense of self in order to enter the medium sized room where the coffee maker happened to be. Much to his relief there were very few there to witness his pale complexion.

Lucky for him, there was a sink in which to dump the old coffee into, using the tap water to rinse it out before moving to the machine in the corner for a fresh cup. A strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled Ed's nose almost like a perfume, scent alone snapping his brain back into gear. Who was committing the murders now?

_It can't be the first guy. He was calculated, actually took his time in choosing the victim he wanted. But this new guy… he just seems to do it at random. Like he doesn't really care who he kills, just as long at they're dead. But why so many people in so little time and with so much effort in making them near to impossible identify?_ Edward was thinking so hard, he almost didn't notice that Armstrong had come up behind him until it was almost too late to react.

"Gah! D-don't do that!" he said, coming close to yelling in his panic at the man's close vicinity, practically bursting his personal space bubble to where he almost dropped his mug. The blonde's shock nearly sent the dark brew all over the place.

For once, Armstrong looked sheepish and took a few steps backwards to allow the shorter blonde some breathing room. "My apologies Edward, but I was hoping to inquire what you were thinking about just now?"

"Just the case I've been assigned." Ed said calmly with a shrug, taking a sip of the coffee in his hand. He nearly hummed in delight to the fresh taste but stayed focused on the larger man's question. "It's a bit more complex than I thought."

"Is that so? Do you want me to help you back to your office?" Armstrong asked suddenly to where Ed nearly spat his coffee out in horror.

"No!" he exclaimed suddenly before quickly covering up his outburst. "I mean… n-no that's fine. I can walk from here."

The larger man merely nodded at this, seeming to accept the shorter blonde's answer as apposed to carrying him like before. "As you wish Edward."

_Does he have to be so damn formal? Oh well. Can't be helped I guess._ Ed thought, taking joy in walking with his own two feet, ignoring the stinging pain in his leg as he confidently walked ahead of the giant man. The fact that he had a cane brought on the ever-predictable stares of curiosity that Ed always received when he was someplace new. Where people didn't know him like his brother did. With the walking mountain right behind him, Ed entered his office and instead of going straight to his desk, he stopped at one of the visitor's chairs that'd been placed in the room to pick up his messenger bag. Sitting down behind his desk once more and setting the mug down on its dark colored surface to rummage through his bag, Armstrong watched in curiosity at what the smaller blonde was doing.

Upon sitting up properly, Ed wasn't surprised to see the look of astonishment at the sight of an orange medication bottle with the white trademark childproof cap in the blonde's hand. Glancing up casually at the large man standing some distance from his desk, Ed didn't seem at all bothered by Armstrong's expression.

The blonde calmly looked back down to focus his attention on opening the bottle in order to retrieve two small white pills. "Go ahead and have a seat. You said you had something you wanted to talk to me about earlier?"

"Um… yes I do." Armstrong said as calmly as his deep voice would allow, trying not to focus on the smaller blonde's pill bottle while taking a seat in one of the chairs that barely had enough room for his large sized behind to sit properly in. "I was hoping to speak to you about a matter that's been troubling me for some time."

"And you think that my fields of expertise might clear things up for you?" Ed inquired evenly, taking the older man by surprise when the blonde's golden eyes stared right into his aqua green ones.

"Yes, I believe so." Armstrong cleared his throat, a bit unnerved by Edward's unusually sharp gaze. "The person I've been investigating for some time has been know to act strangely, as if he cannot imagine being around others for fear of being hurt by their words. From what we've been able to discern, he's killed at least three people so far, merely because of some of the things they said to him."

Ed rubbed his chin with a slight scowl on his face. "Where is this man now?"

"He's in one of the interrogation rooms right now. I was hoping you could tell me what plagues him so much."

A moment or two passed in silence before Ed finally sat back in his chair with what sounded like a tired sigh, looking a bit too relaxed in Armstrong's mind. "Sounds like your guy has avoidance personality disorder."

Naturally, the older man couldn't help but look very confused. "I'm sorry but you must be a little clearer than that."

"Where he literally avoids people out of fear of criticism or rejection. But it could be paranoid personality disorder, which would explain his violent behavior so far." The blonde said with a calm shrug. "That's pretty much where one explodes in bursts of rage at perceived insults."

"Like you do?" a cool voice interjected from behind Armstrong, making the large man turn around in time to see that Mustang had come to stand in the office doorway, a calm smirk on his pale face.

Ed immediately bristled, practically glaring at the raven-haired man viciously from where he sat behind his new desk. "People with paranoid personality disorder have a tendency to mistrust others like crazy. I just don't like you."

Mustang's calm expression didn't change. Instead, the smirk became a little wider than before as he clutched his chest in mock pain at the blonde's words. "You pain me Elric. Have you been able to think about our case for once?"

"Come to think of it, I have. Only this guy popped out of nowhere with his own questions about his case." He said in annoyance, indicating Armstrong with a nod of his head, his sharp golden eyes still throwing daggers at the detective in his doorway.

As if on cue, Armstrong rose from his chair and gave Edward a polite bow as he smiled kindly. "I'm sorry for intruding then. I thank you for helping me understand my suspect's possible condition. Farewell Edward!"

"Uh… bye." The blonde said with a hint of uncertainty as the much larger man gave Mustang a polite bow in turn before vanishing down the hall to wherever he needed to be for whatever reason. Ed calmly turned back to the case file on his desk as the raven-haired detective shut the door and walked up to the desk only to spot the pill bottle sitting out in the open.

"You take pills?" he asked, a bit confused in as to why someone like Ed would need such things to begin with.

"What? You thought the cane was for show?" Ed growled at him, looking truly annoyed by now.

_Not really._ He thought with a hint of curiosity springing to life, but knew that he'd best keep something like that to himself. For now." Kind of."

"Bastard." Ed growled angrily, almost violently flipping a page over to look over another lying underneath.

Just when Roy was about to speak again, the sound of knocking stopped him just when he was about to open his mouth. Ignoring the man standing right in front of his desk as if he belonged there, Ed called out. "Come in!"

Immediately responding to the command, the door opened to allow Riza Hawkeye to enter the room, her attention immediately set on the smaller blonde behind the desk before noticing that her partner was also present. "Excuse me Edward but—Mustang! Sir, what're you doing here?"

Mustang just waved it off coolly. "I was about to speak to our new profiler when you knocked. What is it?"

"Well, I came with some of my notes and witness reports for Edward to look over. Would you like to take a look at them?" she inquired as she indicated the manila folder in her hand as she moved to fully enter the room, closing the door behind her.

"Sure. Let me see." He said, calmly taking the folder from her to quickly skim over the contents, as if to refresh his memory a little. "Down to the last letter as always."

Curious now, Ed stood up in time for Mustang to comply with his silent request to also see the folder of notes, golden eyes widening in shock at the extent that the older woman took to getting everything down exactly right. "Jesus these are detailed. You write like this all the time?"

"It's helped us before. It should help you. Can you get anything from theses notes she took at the scenes?" the blonde woman had to ask, her normally stoic face shifting a little to that of curiosity to see the younger blonde's reaction.

Much to the surprise of both the adults, the younger man just shrugged, retaking his seat behind his desk. "Probably if it's the guy I think it is. If not, then we're dealing with someone a bit more complex."

"Complex? What do you mean by that?" Mustang inquired, a scowl forming on his smooth, pale face.

"Come look at this." Ed said coolly, quickly typing on the computer seated upon the desk, somehow visible in the endless sea of notes and books, turning the monitor around for both the detectives to see a calm looking man with glasses, short brown hair and tanned skin. "This man was seen leaving one of the murder sites with a small section of blood spatter on his shirt one night some 8 years ago. Though unidentified even today, his face is still in the file from the original Blood Smear murders."

" 'Blood Smear' murders? What the hell kind of name is that?" Mustang demanded, obviously getting irritated from seemingly useless information being thrown at him.

Ed didn't even miss a beat as he went on to say. "It's what they called them just by looking at the scenes themselves. Each and every single one looked as though they were nothing more than human flies that'd been hit hard enough to send all of their blood and guts everywhere."

Both detectives looked shocked, Riza speaking first in the silence. "And you think that he's behind all of this?"

"Probably. But the problem is, after committing the last known murder 7 ½ years ago to the day, he vanished into thin air. Poof. Gone without a trace. Another being that at his scenes, there were markings all over the place, done with the victim's spilled blood in such a way that suggested mental instability." The blonde said with a shrug, turning the computer monitor back around to start typing again.

Mustang still had yet to say anything as Riza continued to voice her thoughts on the matter. "So that's why you asked about the markings! You wanted to see if it was really the same killer after all this time. But why now?"

For once, Ed looked troubled, rubbing his chin as he stared at the bright computer screen before him to finally look back at the two detectives standing in front of his desk as though they belonged there. "I'm not sure. It could be that he's decided to come out of retirement or…."

"Or what?" Mustang finally asked, the blonde's look of uncertainty bothering him in a way he'd yet to understand.

"Or he has a successor." He said finally, sending the two cops into shock once more, only this time Mustang was the first to speak.

"Are you kidding me?" the raven-haired man exclaimed, nearly slammed his hands on the desk in astonishment and enragement. Surely the blonde man sitting so calmly in front of him was lying somehow.

But Ed's grim expression remained. "I wish I was but I'm not. See if you can't find any murders that are somewhat similar to this from towns at least to the far west of the state."

"What? Why?"

It was Ed's turn to scowl. "To see if this guy has had some practice. He's working too quickly to be a beginner at this. He's had to experiment somewhere and it's probably pretty close to the city where there're more people to choose from. Less people to miss."

"You're saying that this isn't his first spree?" the look of disgust was evident on the raven-haired man's face.

Ed merely nodded, his face as serious as humanly possible. "Far from it. It could be his third. For all we know, he could be getting ready to move to another city for his fourth."

Roy Mustang looked as though he was about to simply burst in the intensity of his rage not only at himself, but also at the rest of the law enforcement agencies who might've known about this sort of activity but had done nothing. "This… this is insane! Just who is this guy anyway?!?"

"I don't know. But we should get a move on if we want to catch him. I suggest you start looking up those murders."

This only made Roy's anger boil even more. "Why us?"

Raising an eyebrow at this odd response, Ed decided to explain anyway since he'd yet to poke holes into Mustang's constant smugness. "You're the detectives remember? I'm just the profiler. My job is to profile suspects from their deeds and habits. I can't do that if I don't have the right kind of data on hand, now can I? Besides, I still have to go through all of your notes as well as my own. Fair enough?"

Mustang just let out an irritated growl before exiting the room with Riza tailing not far behind, his face slightly wrinkled with his growing agitation of going constantly in circles. That and the fact their new profiler was so damn cocky when the ball was on his side of the court. _Damn him! Why'd he have to be so fuckin' arrogant over giving me orders? Is it his way of payback for earlier?_

Shaking it off, Roy sat down at his desk in the main room, ignoring his partner's look of curiosity and concern. Minimizing his already present pages, Mustang began a new search entirely, typing like crazy even when his blonde female partner watched on from her own desk before finally moving to do the same. He'd be damned if he was going to be made a fool of by a serial killer copycat and a handicap punk.

--_**With Al**_—

It'd been a few hours since he'd dropped his brother off at his new workplace, and the mere fact that he'd lacked a vehicle of his own for so long, Alphonse couldn't help but think about getting his own big brother a car. The stubborn blonde would probably try to talk him out of it. Most likely going on about how he'd already done enough and could take things from there. Like always. It was this very thing that Ed said all the time when things got too much for the both of them. Now wasn't such a case, but he knew his brother would say it anyway. He couldn't help but wonder if his older sibling had been taking care of himself properly at all over the past number of years since they were separated after their mother's death. A haunting question that'd always plagued him since _that_ day.

Alphonse knew better than anyone when his brother would start to work a little too hard to make things appear routine. When the tired looks and exhausted yawns would appear in Ed's behavior, Al's inner sensors would go haywire. Even when they were little and their mother was only just starting to get sick, Al couldn't help but notice that his older brother actually tried to do some of their mother's chores by himself. He'd always laugh at how Ed would panic when dealing with female underwear, whether it was clean or not, blushing darkly until coming across a sheet or a pair of pants.

The younger of the Elric brothers could only sigh as he tapped his pencil against his notebook, barely conscious of the professor giving his daily lecture. Now that Ed had a job, he could probably start to pay his own bills and maybe get his own food as soon as he got used to his new environment. But now the only thing Al had to worry about was whether or not Ed would suffer from culture shock as he turned his attention back to the lesson, raising his hand in time to answer a recently asked question.

--_**A Few Minutes Later**_—

Much to his relief, class was let out a little early, allowing Alphonse to travel to the food court on campus for a much needed lunch break. Seating himself under a large tree with shade cooler than the air around it, Al set his bag down on the seat beside him in order to pull out the lunch bag he'd put together earlier that morning. Lucky for him, the sun was hitting his feet just right to where they kept his feet from getting too cold to move in the autumn chill. As if on cue, Winry appeared with a cheerful look on her face and two foam cups of steaming hot cocoa in her gloved hands as she sat down beside her boyfriend, giving him a sweet smile.

"I thought you'd be here. What's on your mind today?" she asked kindly, nudging him gently with her shoulder against his.

Alphonse just gave a bit of an apologetic form of a smile in turn. "All that's really on my mind a lot of the time actually."

Raising a curious eyebrow at this, the smile almost becoming a knowing grin, Winry took on her teasing tone of voice. "Oh really? Well let's see: you already found your brother, got him a new place to live, even helped him get a job and now it's almost as if you're doubting the fact that you've done enough for him as it is."

"Something like that." Al had to pause, think over his answer. "It's just… he's always worked harder than he should. I'm actually afraid he might overdo something and I won't be there to help."

"You've both grown up Al. he's got a job that can probably help him get all that he needs and then some while we have to finish school while working part time jobs of our own." This time the light blonde haired girl leaned onto the boy next to her, their noses almost touching as she looked him right into his dark grey eyes. "I think we're all set to go."

"And I can't help but think that you're right." He said as his own smile became a grin, trying to hold down the blush at just how close the girl was from his face.

"Of course I am!" she said cheerfully, suddenly sitting up straight to throw her arms into the air as if in absolute joy, totally killing the mood.

Al could only laugh at his girlfriend's antics before the sad look returned, turning his grin to where it was almost bitter. "But…."

This instantly got Winry's attention. "But what?"

Looking at though he were about to fall asleep, Al couldn't help but shake his head at the girl's question. "I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling."

"What feeling?" she had to ask. It'd been a long time since Alphonse had spoken in this manner. Back when she and her Aunt Pinako still lived in a nice house in the suburbs next to a not so nice middle aged man. Winry had to fight to keep the memory of the unusually horrible event from surfacing in her mind.

Much to her relief, Alphonse didn't really seem to notice as he just stared down at his gloved hands. "I'm not sure. I can't help but feel that it might come to life."

They just ate in an understanding silence after that.

--_**Meanwhile, Elsewhere In The City**_—

He'd decided to do it differently this time. Variety was always something worth enjoying sometimes. Now that he had his new prey to play with, he'd decided it was high time to make a few adjustments to his method. Just tearing them apart was interesting but was turning out to be a bit too messy, not to mention downright boring. _I'll probably start doing it again… just for fun. But for now… the game really begins._ He thought, almost smiling at the thought of someone more intelligent than the two detectives working his scenes was around to finally pose as a challenge. A threat. He knew from a rather reliable source that the raven-haired man, who he now knew to be named Mustang, was a retired military leader. As was the blonde woman, Hawkeye.

_Such a strange name for a woman. Must be those eyes of hers._ He shrugged the thoughts away. Normally he could care less about names. They were just words given to things or people to act as a label rather than a defining aspect of personality. It was the younger blonde that interested him, moving around as if he knew exactly what he was doing in a place such as that. Watching from afar, he managed to hide his tiny smile of amusement behind his constant stoic visage. Little did the people gathered around him, curiously staring at the sight of yellow police tape holding them some distance away from another of his masterpieces.

They'd been in the middle of their search when they'd received the call from a panicked man saying he'd come across a huge pool of blood, bits and pieces of flesh everywhere he looked in the hopes of escaping the massive spill of humanity. Mustang could only rub the bridge of his nose in fatigue, trying to fight down the growing headache that threatened to split his brain, bone and all, in two equal halves. All he could do now was watch as their new profiler, Edward Elric, moved around the gory scene as if he were looking at an ice sculpture. And it was sending him up the wall.

"Got anything?" he inquired trying not to sound too annoyed at the lack of results from the blonde man practically kneeling in the spilt river of blood in a calm fashion that told the raven-haired man there was something extremely wrong with him.

The blonde just shook his head, not even disgusted by the smell of death and decay that surrounded him like a blanket. Mainly because he was trying not to breathe it in too much to where it became unbearable as he scanned the area with his pocket flashlight in a fairly systematic manner. "Not just yet. I'm trying to see if he made any changes."

Mustang could only roll his eyes. _As if that's ever really gonna happen._ He thought in frustration, knowing it was just fatigue that was getting to him as he let his tone do the talking. "Like what? Did he leave us flowers with a 'I'm sorry I'm killing people' note?"

Golden eyes seemed to slide over to stare at the older man, making a shiver run down his spine for a reason he couldn't explain as the blonde just gave him his own bit of sarcasm. "Haha. Very funny Mustang, oh so amusing where I almost forgot to laugh. But no, he didn't so don't get your hopes up."

The raven-haired man felt like turning around to slam his head against the wall in seething rage and annoyance, the blonde man ignoring him completely. "Damn. What is this guy? Jack the Ripper and Charles Manson put together?"

"If that were true, these people would be in one piece now wouldn't they?" Ed deadpanned calmly, sending another chill down Roy's spine, a little weirded out by the blonde's eerily calm tone of voice.

"True but still. This guy has no sense of morality at all! What the hell does it take to catch this guy?!?" he grumbled angrily under his breath, glaring at the brick wall across from him as ink black orbs practically burned with hidden rage.

Ed came close to laughing at how the man's expression almost looked too much like a childish pout, but kept his expression serious as he motioned for the man in question to come closer. "Maybe this'll clear things up."

Curious in as to what the smaller blonde was talking about, Mustang somehow fought off his growing headache long enough to come stand next to the kneeling man to lean down close enough to see what Ed's flashlight revealed. What he saw shocked him: it was a circle of some sort, with lines stretching in almost purposeful directions to create some kind of triangle. Another set of lines came out from the middle to stretch to the edges of the circle. The worst of it being, it was all put onto the wall with blood. Possibly with the blood of the victim, now nothing more than a big puddle of drying blood and pieces of flesh and bone.

"W-what is it?" he had to ask. The symbol was a strange one, and since he'd never seen it before, something about it didn't feel right.

Ed merely rubbed his chin calmly, appearing purely thoughtful. "A basic alchemy transmutation circle. Why the hell it's here is beyond me."

"Does it really mean anything?" the question was almost forced, the older man hoping to the gods above that the symbol was utterly worthless.

Such hopes were shot down almost instantly with the blonde man's cool answer as he almost leaned too close to the wall, his nose coming close to touching the circle in it's unusual medium. "I'm not sure. But it has to mean something if the sick freak who put it here has something to say to us."

Mustang's annoyed scowl was almost comical, but Ed knew better than to laugh at the tired looking man as his normally cool voice came out in a rough tone. "Sharing what it could be would be really great at this point."

"I bet it is. But if I can guess here… if I may?" Ed inquired, coming close to grinning but decided that a smirk was good enough for the both of them.

Despite this effort of self-control, Mustang failed to look even slightly amused at the blonde's almost cocky smirk. "Guessing is what we've been trying to do. Feel free."

Instead of looking apologetic, Ed just shrugged casually. "It's possible that he's trying to say that this is only the beginning."

"'Only the beginning'? Meaning what? He plans on doing more of this?" he had to ask more out of concern rather than curiosity. Such a thing only meant more death.

Ed nodded solemnly, looking fairly grim for once in the few hours he'd known the blonde. "Most likely. And possibly in a fashion that I'm a bit too familiar with."

"That isn't very reassuring."

"It never is." He barely heard the blonde whisper, watching the man stand up and calmly limp to another section of the crime scene.

Before he could say much more about anything else, something out of the corner of his eye made him freeze, all motion seeming to come to a complete stop. Upon staring at it with such a strong, calculative gaze strong enough to heat metal from a long distance, Ed felt a sudden horrified sensation build up in his chest. His brain, however, was going completely haywire. _N-no way! No fuckin' way!_

From across the several feet that separated them, his back turned to the raven-haired detective, Ed was barely able to whisper. "Mustang."

"Yeah?" somehow his voice had carried across the wide space as the man came to stand next to him, curious about what the blonde wanted.

Ed turned to look at him, making the older man jump in surprise at the look the blonde had on his face. A look of fear that almost looked haunted. "I need you to tell everyone to get out of here. Right. Now."

Keeping his face completely devoid of nearly every emotion, Mustang could only stare at the blonde in slight confusion and worry at the expression he was receiving from the younger man. "What? Why? What's wrong Elric?"

"Just do it!" Ed snapped, sounding almost desperate.

"Can't you just--?" Mustang wasn't able to say more when the blonde man cut him off with a voice that was like a thousand steel blades.

"Unless you want everyone to be blown to a million pieces like out vic here, I suggest you listen to what I say dammit!" the blonde turned back to the area he'd been staring at so intensely before only to regain his utterly terrified look as he yelled at the lazy blonde man he knew to be Jean Havoc. "Holy crap Havoc--! DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

The man in question jumped in surprise, practically leaping away from the garbage can he was about to overturn to inspect what could be behind it only to stare at the younger blonde man with a look of confusion and surprise. "Whoa! What the hell?"

"Everyone! OUT OF HERE NOW!" Ed suddenly yelled nearly at the top of his lungs, turning to the raven-haired man with a perfectly grim expression. "Mustang! Get the bomb squad!"

"B-bomb?!" Fuery squeaked from somewhere, a few others looking just as terrified as the mousy man.

This word was enough to get Mustang to let his military experience shine through as he gave everyone within range a harsh, commanding look. "You heard the man! Get a move on! Drop everything and split! Move, move!"

Even as he uttered these words, people were already running out of the alleyway in the hopes to get far away enough to let the bomb squad do their job. People beyond the yellow tape seemed to ripple like a field of grass bending under the wind's gentle push before seeming to begin running away, some screaming in panic. Complete and utter chaos in its purest form.

He couldn't help but smile now. All the people around him were running, almost like scared lemmings in search for an escape route from death itself. To ensure he didn't look suspicious, he too ran with them. How he loved to blend in with the stampeding crowd that seemed more like gazelle than lemmings when he saw how some of them jumped over small obstacles as if they weren't even there. Just to see how it would look like even from afar, he managed to find a good spot to stop and look back in time to see something rather interesting. A petite looking figure dressed in black clothing and a cane in hand came jogging out of the darkness.

What shocked him the most was the features this person had: golden blonde hair long enough to be in a small braid, intelligent eyes of gold and a face of almost boyish quality to where it was almost ridiculous. _Maybe he's still close enough…._ He thought as he reached into his pocket, found what he was looking for, and pressed the only button that existed upon it.

The results were almost instantaneous. Flames erupted from the small space, destroying anything and everything still within the area, the building right next to the blast practically shaking on its foundation. Cement, brick and dust came falling down even as people ran like crazy to escape the cold-hearted destructive blast sending shockwaves all the way down the street in both directions. Some cops had managed to make it to their cars in time to allow some of their people to hop in before quickly backing out far enough to escape the falling wreckage.

Ed was thankful he'd been well enough that morning to move around in a manner such as this, otherwise, much to his aggravation, he'd be forced to ask for help. If it was anything, Ed hated being a burden to others. Now that he and his new coworkers were well out of harm's way, all the blonde man could do was watch as a building's whole right side collapsed from the explosion that now tore it apart.

I'd say this chapter's long enough right? That and cliffhangers are so fun to do these days. I have too much fun sometimes. Anyway, check out what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 5: Back To Square One

This new change in our mysterious murder's way of workin' is probably enough to baffle the Boys in Blue more than before. But is it enough to send Riza, Roy and Ed all the way back to where they started? Is there even enough evidence to suggest that our killer isn't just a copycat, but the real deal? Find out on the next installment of '_Departmental Issues_' with:

_**Chapter 5: Back To Square One!!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Back To Square One

Hey there everybody! I'm back once again to give you the best of the best when it comes to readin' some of the best fics around! We come in again on chapter 5 Woot! So I hope everyone's been keepin' watch and anticipating this latest installment of my latest creation, '_Departmental Issues_'! In the meantime, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form. Until I post again, enjoy!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thought

"_Iii_" radio/telephone speech

Chapter 5: Back To Square One

They had to wait until the dust cleared properly before anyone could even come within ten feet of the half demolished building. And the forensic and investigative teams knew that all their latest evidence was lost for all time. Or at least until they were cleared to enter the area again in the hopes of salvaging something from their crime scene now buried under several feet of crumbled brick and rusted steel. From what everyone could tell, Ed had managed to warn them in time about the explosive to where no one was missing or seriously hurt.

Ed, the blonde man in question, was calmly seated upon the front end of Roy Mustang's car, a little dusty and possibly bleeding from his forehead. He couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed at tarnishing the sleek car with this dust covered self, the tan colored filth standing out considerably against the midnight blue paint. But it wasn't everyday that one got to see a seemingly brand new Chevrolet Cobalt up close. Managing to stand up on his own, Ed tried to shake a bit like a dog to rid himself of the powder still clinging to his clothes and hair. All he did was spread it everywhere. And all over Havoc and Breda just as they came up to speak to the smaller blonde, barely able to jump out of the way of the small clouds of dust flying in their direction.

With Breda coughing a little, Havoc decided to voice their protests. "Jesus Ed! Take it easy!"

"Oh. Sorry guys. Didn't see you there." The blonde said sheepishly with a calm grin, scratching the back of his head almost absentmindedly.

Somehow managing to get the clouds of dust out of his face, Breda gave the blonde a look of concern. "Man, I bet Mustang's gonna be pissed when he sees you sat on his car like that."

Ed's grin only grew wider, surprisingly cocky compared to all the other oddly cool expressions they'd seen the blonde wear. "Who cares? It can be punishment for when he acts like a frickin' bastard again."

"Yeah well, are you sure that you're okay? I mean… with that injured leg of yours and everything…." The bum of cop paused, unsure of how to go on.

Ed just shrugged it off, not even bothered by the man's words. "Don't worry guys! As long as I don't plan on running a 10-mile dash, I'll be fine. Did you want to talk to me about somethin'?"

Having gotten past the awkward moment, Havoc decided to then voice his curiosity over the smaller blonde's actions some time before. "Yeah… how'd you know there was a bomb?"

"That's a pretty good question Elric. Go ahead. Tell us how you knew." Mustang said suddenly, having appeared practically out of nowhere from behind the two police officers, glaring a little at the small mess that Ed had purposely spread all over the hood of his car.

The grin becoming a smirk, Ed just shrugged again. "It's simple really. Once you see a pair of red and green lights blinking from inside a overturned garbage can kinda sets off those little alarms right? Only reason somethin' would be in a trash can that's on its side is either busted, or gettin' ready to go boom."

Havoc and Breda looked as if they were about to let their jaws drop to the ground while Mustang just looked a little confused. "Okay. But why a bomb of all things? Why not just put some more symbols on the wall?"

"There were symbols?" Havoc inquired, now taking on a confused expression.

Ed just nodded at this, somehow looking grim through all the dust that nearly covered him from head to toe. "Just one. But that's only because he thought that'd keep us too preoccupied to notice how things will start to come crashin' down. No, this guy wants us to stop chasin' him long enough to evolve."

Naturally, all three men looked very confused, but Mustang still appeared to be determined for answers. "Evolve? What do you mean 'evolve'?"

"Remember how I told you this guy might be the real deal?" the blonde inquired, not really noticing the two other cops shrugging and walking off to help deal with the growing crowd of curious and worried people.

Mustang remained, ink black eyes narrowing almost suspicious of where the blonde was taking their conversation. "Yeah. What about it?"

"It's possible that this guy isn't the one I thought he was."

"So it's really a copycat?" the older man nearly snapped, not really trying to hide his fatigue and aggravation. He was tired of going in circles.

Ed seemed to pretend not to notice the man's change in attitude, a flicker of concern in his golden eyes going unnoticed as he kept going. "It might be. But his way of killing is too perfected. Since he planted a bomb this time only suggests that he's testing his limits. His talents so to speak."

"Talents? Are you trying to make this freak look like a freakin' saint?" Mustang snapped again, barely able to hold back his torrid emotions over the whole thing hidden well enough to appear to be his usually smug self.

The blonde only smirked at him, which only stirred his anger even further than before. "No. But what _I am_ saying is that he's managed to master only one field of expertise in his 'arts' of killing. Now I think he's trying to find out if he can do more than just kill one at a time."

"By trying to blow us into tiny, bite sized pieces. Great, just great." He said with exasperation, practically throwing his arms into the air in defeat.

Ed merely nodded, perfectly calm amidst Mustang's growing rage and frustration over getting nowhere a bit too fast for his taste. "Precisely. All I can tell is that this whole thing was just a test. An experiment of how well he can make them. It's possible that he's trying to better himself through his detonations. The bigger, probably the better."

"Dammit! Is there no end to this?" the older man demanded, sitting down on the front of his own car, massaging his temples with the tips of his fingers.

The blonde standing nearly a foot away merely shrugged. "I'm not sure. We'll know when we catch him."

A little disappointed that his device hadn't worked as well as it should've, he could only stare from afar with a slight frown on his face. Seeing that his two targets had gotten out with barely a scratch angered him more than anything in his life. And he'd rarely ever been angry. He'd hoped that at least a few of the people had gotten caught in the blast. _Oh well. Another time perhaps. But at least now I know for sure that there's another player on the board._ He thought to himself with a silent shrug. He'd try and make the next one better. But until then, certain things had to go into motion or it'd all be timed poorly.

Looking left and right to ensure no one was really watching him, he left his spot on the sidewalk to stuff his hands into his pockets, heading in the opposite direction of the dusty wreckage. Just as easily as the hundreds of times before, he vanished into the crowd like ghost of the past. Seen by few, known by none and the same as thousands.

Before he could really do much about it, Mustang was up and pacing, barely noticing the younger blonde man watching him as he did so. "We should go back to the precinct and see if our data searches brought up anything by now."

"Didn't Riza come with us?" said blonde asked curiously, just then realizing the older woman's absence from the scene.

The raven-haired man was too busy with his thoughts to truly answer the blonde profiler, practically mumbling almost to himself. "No. She vouched to stay behind. I think she said somethin' about organizing it all before we got back."

"That's good. I need to go through the photos from our now lost scene." After a moment of watching the older man pace and silently mumble to himself, Ed couldn't keep the question in anymore. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Not really." He said with a slight shake of his head at the question before instantly regretting it. His head was still trying to split itself open.

Ed just raised an eyebrow at the man's actions, knowing a lie when he heard one, even from someone he barely knew. "That so? Sit down then."

This very statement was enough to make the older man stop to stare at the blonde in slight disbelief. "Wha--?"

Next thing he knew, a strong hand had grabbed onto his arm, warm and from but gentle through the layers of fabric. Before he could utter another word, he was forced into a slight spin before being pushed onto the hood of his car, his butt coming to rest on the front bumper as a pair of razor sharp eyes of gold pierced him like swords. "Sit! You look worse than I do."

"That's because I've been up for nearly six whole days!" he snapped in time to notice a small river of red traveling down the blonde's almost boyish face. "And you're bleeding! You should have someone take a look at that."

"I've heard enough." Ed deadpanned, seeming to ignore the man's last two sentences entirely.

Mustang couldn't help but feel that he wasn't going to like what was about to happen. "Huh?"

"I'm driving you home." the blonde said suddenly, almost sending Mustang's inner world upside down.

Somehow hiding a blush from showing on his pale face, Roy Mustang sincerely tried to protest against the shorter blonde taking the time and effort to care to his needs despite the headache from before nearly made him faint. "W-what? Are you tall enough to reach the pedals?"

Ed's reaction was instantaneous, an almost comical explosion of pent up rage at the raven-haired man. "WHO YOU CALLIN' NOT TALL ENOUGH TO REACH THE EDGE OF A DINNER TABLE?"

"You apparently." The older man said with a pained smirk, somehow still able to hear through the loud ringing in his ears.

Viciously glaring at the rather smug looking detective, Edward gave him a very serious look that honestly meant business. "Shut up you bastard! C'mon. Get your stupid smug ass into the passenger's seat already."

"Do you even know where I live?" he had to inquire as he slowly complied, trying not to jolt his sore head too much, somehow wishing that the answer would be no and his smugness would continue.

Much to his surprise, the blonde just grinned. "Yup. Right next door to me."

He could only gape in astonishment at this profound confession of uncommon knowledge. "H-how did you--?"

Ed just shrugged as he sat down in the driver's seat, the car keys appearing in his hand almost like magic as he inserted the small metal object into the ignition and gave it a confident turn. "I managed to find your file after I headed back to my office to look at Riza's notes like you wanted me to. That and I think I saw you in the hall once. Not all that hard to figure out."

"I-I see."

"Matter of fact!" the blonde suddenly exclaimed, turning to the older man with a perfectly innocent expression. "Where's your cell phone?"

Roy couldn't help but look a little confused at this sudden question. "Don't you have one?"

The blonde's response nearly made him want to bang his head on the dashboard but only knew it'd make his headache worse than before. "Yeah, but I left it in my new office. I'll get it later."

"You came to a scene without a cell phone! Are you stupid?" he exclaimed, instantly regretting his own raised voice as the sound and volume sent waves of pain through his head like nothing else. It was almost to the point where he couldn't see that well.

Ed just shrugged as he started boldly rummaging through one of Roy's coat pockets in search of the device in question. "No, just forgetful now and again. Now where's that phone?"

"Are you even listening to me?" Mustang snapped, somehow showing anger amidst his silent agony.

The blonde merely looked him right in the eyes with a stern expression that pinned the raven-haired man to his seat. "Do I have to search you, or do I have to keep asking?"

Silently wondering if the blonde could see his deep blush through all the dust that covered them both, Mustang somehow forced himself to look away from the blonde as he pulled the silver machine from his right pocket, his voice almost a defeated whisper compared to his confident tone. "Here."

--_**Meanwhile, At The Precinct**_—

She'd been working for nearly an hour to organize all of her notes and the scene photos in chronological order for their new profiler. Never had Riza Hawkeye ever truly been cluttered or disorderly. Such things were for men who cared little for work except to get paid and then go home for the day. But never Riza, oh no. She made sure everything was in its place when it needed to be there for whatever reason that existed. A few of her fellow officers had even commented that she'd make the perfect secretary if not for the fact that she could shoot a man in the leg from over fifteen feet away. There was a time when she nearly had to prove her accuracy when one started talking about how she'd look in the almost skintight skirts that some such women wore to their jobs.

Fighting down her boiling anger over the memory, the blonde woman stared at the bloody pictures hanging from the board and displayed all over the meeting table in rarely expressed sadness. So many people lost in three months. _And counting._ She thought bitterly to herself, hating the fact that even though her superior didn't really act like it, he was actually very competent and serious about his work. But they'd never experienced a case quite like this one. Even after they'd been assigned to work the case, they always seemed to come right back to square one.

Before she could even go two steps towards the door, Riza heard the familiar sound of her cell phone going off to alert her to an incoming call. Curious, she pulled the small device from her dress pants pocket, the sleek black cover only giving way to a small camera lens and a tiny screen that read 'Incoming Call: Mustang'.

_Why is he calling now? Isn't he at a scene?_ Flipping the device open, the blonde woman put it to her ear as the phone instantly connected the call, her voice hinted with curiosity and annoyance. "Mustang? Aren't you supposed to be working?"

Problem being, it wasn't Roy's voice she heard answer from the other end. "_Is that proof that not only is he a bastard, but he's a lazy good for nothin'? Interesting info there Riza!_"

Taken aback by this amused but familiar voice, Riza nearly pulled the phone away from her ear to see if she'd read the screen wrong. "E-Ed? W-what are you doing on Mustang's cell phone?"

"_I took it from him. He looks kinda half alive right now since we nearly got blown up._" She could almost hear the confident grin in his voice, but was distracted by instant concern.

"W-what? Are you two all right?"

"_We're fine! But Detective Pissy here is actin' like he's drunk when he's perfectly sober._" Ed said with an amused chuckle, making the woman sweat drop, as she stood alone in the meeting room.

"Then why are you calling on his phone?" she had to ask. _Doesn't he have one of his own or something?_

"_I left mine in my office on accident._" He said calmly, nearly making her fall over in amazement at the younger blonde's casual reply. "_Besides, I'm driving him home._"

Riza's surprise seemed to know no bounds as she nearly pulled the phone away to stare at it in disbelief. "What? I thought you didn't have a car!"

"_Stole his keys while I was at it. That and he's complaining about a splitting headache so--!_"

Suddenly Roy's voice cut in, sounding fairly annoyed, if not exceedingly angry at the blonde's words about him. "But you're bleeding! BLEEDING!"

"_Oh shut up! It's not that bad._" Ed snapped, his amused tone having given way to seething rage at the man' interruption in his conversation with the woman.

"You're hurt!" Riza exclaimed, not really believing what she was hearing from the blonde man anymore.

"_I am not!_" Ed snapped a bit too quickly only for Roy to butt in again.

"_He is too! Riza do somethi--!_"

She could hear muffled sounds of movement and a slight 'oof' in the background just before Ed suddenly stared speaking angrily. "_Sit back down and shut up you frickin' bastard! Unless you want me to veer into a fuckin' pole!_"

"_I'm surprised you're tall enough to reach the steering wheel._" Riza let out another sigh. That man just couldn't resist being a smart ass.

"_WHAT WAS THAT YOU PRICK?_" Ed roared.

That was the last straw as Riza decided it was high time for her to intervene like she'd done only an hour or so beforehand. "Enough! BOTH OF YOU!"

The line went silent as the blonde woman let out a tired sigh. She should've known the two would never really get along in the first place. Collecting her thoughts as best as her tired mind would allow, Riza spoke up again in a very stern tone.

"Now Roy, I warned you about staying awake for as long as you have so you're going to do exactly as Edward—"

"_Just Ed is fine. I'm serious about that._" the blonde man cut in before going silent again in the hopes that she wasn't angry with him.

Lucky for him, she let it slide as she went on without even changing her tone in the slightest. "… Exactly as _Ed_ recommends you do: get some sleep. And I'd better not see hide or hair of you until tomorrow morning. Ed? You're going to drop him off and then come back to the office _after_ you have a shower. Even I know an explosion will leave a person messier than a two year old. Understand?"

"_Works for me._" The blonde said calmly, somehow knowing better than to protest at this point.

When she got silence, Riza spoke again expectantly. "Roy?"

More silence followed before she got a begrudging answer. "_…. Fine._"

"Good. And don't even try calling back. See you later Edward."

"_It's Ed! ED!_"

Instead of answering, she merely pressed the 'end' button on her phone, flipped it closed and stuck the thing back into her pocket. All she could do now was wait. Rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips, Riza Hawkeye of the NYPD left the quiet meeting room in search of a good cup of coffee and actual sane doses of humanity.

--_**With Al & Winry**_—

Classes had been slow but worthwhile upon figuring out that they had no new assignments to deal with for the next few days. Driving them both home, Alphonse was just about to walk up the front steps of their apartment building when he heard the muffled sound of his cell phone ringing. Naturally curious in as to who it was, he pulled it out of his pant's pocket to stare at the little screen. 'Unknown Caller' it read in black against a bright white background, making the light brown haired boy stare at the tiny lettering in confusion. _Did someone dial the wrong number?_ He thought, as he knew better than to ignore the caller in the hopes of telling them of their mistake. Pressing the 'answer option, Alphonse brought the device to his ear.

"Hello?" he said almost cautiously, hoping the person on the other end wasn't someone with a bad temper.

Much to his surprise, an all too familiar voice spoke up instead. "_Al! 'Bout time you picked up! Mind helpin' me with somethin'?_"

"Uh sure. What's going on? Why aren't you using your phone?" it felt right to ask since his phone hadn't recognized the number, having entered Ed's number only a few weeks beforehand.

Oddly enough, his older brother sounded a bit sheepish for some reason when he spoke again. "_I kinda left mine behind so I'm using someone else's. And that someone's not feelin' too good so I'm driving him back home._"

"Oh really? In his car I'm guessing?" Al asked with a knowing smirk. Leave it to Edward Elric to snatch up a set of car keys without anyone noticing a damn thing.

The man in question merely laughed almost wickedly over the line, sounding very proud of his hidden skill. "_Right on. Thing is, he's my neighbor, a guy named Roy Mustang. That ring any bells for ya?_"

"Mustang?" after a moment or two of thought, said bells did start ringing. "Oh yeah! I remember him. But I've rarely seen him around lately. Aren't you two supposed to be working a case or something?"

The younger of the brothers could hear the shrug in his sibling's voice. "_Yeah but he's not feelin' all that great. I think he might've passed out by now._"

"Need me to do anything?" Al had to ask, his kind heart giving him an extreme sense of concern for others.

Ed could only chuckle at his brother's words. "_Yeah. Watch over his smug, smart ass self. From what he's told me, he's got a splitting headache and I think he's got a fever or somethin'. Can you and Winry watch him while I head back to work?_"

"Sure. I'll tell her what we're going to be dealing with. You can find me on the front steps of the building." Al said, smiling to himself as Winry stared down at him curiously from the top of the stairs.

"_Awesome. Later bro!_" the blonde said calmly, seeming to smile in turn before the line went dead, the dial tone filling the younger man's ear.

"What was that about?" Winry inquired, coming back down to stand next to her boyfriend who pocketed his cell phone before turning to her with a look of concern on his face.

Al's expression of concern didn't waver as he spoke. "That was Ed. He's coming in with Roy."

"Roy?" Winry said with a tense whisper, her blue eyes filling with sadness of a painful memory. "Why him?"

Her boyfriend just shook his head. "I'm not sure. Only that Roy's feeling a bit under the weather and he's bringing him here. Is that a problem?"

"Not really…." She said, looking down at her shoes to where her eyes were hidden by her hair and shadow.

She felt a gentle arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her closer to the kind-hearted man standing next to her. "Are you sure? I can call him back you know."

These words were enough to make her snap her head up, her expression almost desperate and hesitant. "No! No, it's… it's fine. Really."

A silence fell between them, Al's calm grey eyes staring right into orbs of cobalt blue filled with the past's harsh contents. "Did you forgive him?"

"A little." The light blonde girl said softly, looking away from the steady gaze of her boyfriend.

Using a gentle hand to bring her face back towards his, Al kept his voice caring but stern in the face of her confusion. "You know that 'a little' isn't enough."

Even as his hand kept her face their, her eyes couldn't help but look away, uncertainty swirling in their depths, her voice still unusually soft. "I know but…."

"Do you want me to take care of him while you're making dinner?" he inquired, knowing full well that the girl before him didn't really want to speak much further on the matter. But the question still had to be put on the table.

Winry let her head fall onto the man's chest, her voice almost a whisper compared to all the bustle of the city around them. "It's not that I haven't forgiven him… it's just…"

Alphonse knew better than to let her try to say more, giving her an encouraging hug before pulling her away from him, his smile as sweet and kind as the first time she'd ever seen it. "I understand. Go ahead and go upstairs. I'll be up when they get here."

"All right." She said in the same soft voice, trying to smile back only for it to fade to a pained frown, causing lines to appear on her young face.

The look of concern was back on his face. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." she said just as quietly, this time managing a smile before giving him a peck on the tip of his nose and heading back up the steps to disappear beyond the wooden double doors, leaving him standing in the cold with a deep blush on his face.

--_**With Roy**_—

He'd been trying to stay awake throughout the drive back to the apartment building they shared as neighbors. But for some reason, the fact he'd been awake for nearly a week and the painful headache that pulsated now and again kept either waking him up, or kept on trying to put him to sleep. The vague consciousness that the blonde driving his car was talking on his phone to someone familiar seemed to be something that didn't really concern him. Whoever the aggravatingly irritating, overconfident blonde was talking too wasn't any of his concern in the slightest.

"You okay over there?" he said suddenly, his voice oddly soft as the phone suddenly vanished from his slightly pale hands before coming to grip the steering wheel.

Frowning a little at this, Roy just waved the question away like it was an annoying fly. "I'll live. I think…."

Golden orbs glanced at him, narrowing in pure annoyance before turning away to watch the road ahead. "Don't think. Just sit there."

Silence fell over them, the sounds of traffic and people making up the most of the white noise as the raven-haired man stared up at he ceiling of his own car, silently wondering why he'd let the blonde do what he was doing right then. "You don't have to do this you know."

"Yeah. But I think Riza'll kill me if I don't." the blonde in question said calmly, shrugging as he lightly hit the gas and spun the wheel as he took a smooth turn.

Roy only scoffed. "No she won't."

Eagle gold pierced ink black in a fierce glare. "Look you! I might not've known you guys for that long but I think I know when a woman is dead set on kickin' my ass for bein' an idiot."

"Oh really? How is that?" Mustang inquired as Ed turned his attention back to the road ahead, not even swerving when he'd looked away.

"I just do okay?" Ed grumbled, bringing the car to a smooth stop when the light turned red as a few other cars also stopped. "Now just sit there and be quiet."

The older man couldn't help but chuckle at the blonde's tone. "Ooh aren't we touchy today?"

"Yes, very. Now unless you want that headache of yours to get worse via my cane going through your skull, I suggest you shut your smug ass up." He snapped, gripping the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Mustang only smirked, raising an eyebrow at these unusual words.

"Are you always so violent?"

Said blonde turned to glare at him, practically sneering from annoyance. "Are you always so conceited?"

Mustang blinked. That comeback wasn't something he'd been expecting. And to be said so bluntly? Now that was a bit unusual. Especially from a guy he'd only just met a few hours before and was only just starting to become accustomed to.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ed said coolly, a smirk playing on his lips at his victory.

Another silence overcame the car again until finally Roy spoke again, his voice practically a whisper. "No, I'm not."

The smirk quickly vanished, golden eyes glancing over at him before looking away, a look of slight confusion marring his features. "That's not my impression."

"What is your impression of me then?"

More silence, this time almost forced before Ed finally had himself speak again in a calm tone of voice. "…. Just sit back and shut up."

"Ed—." Mustang began to say before the blonde quickly cut him off, his tone icy in a way that made the older man feel like he'd said something he ought not have.

"We're almost there so you can just can it."

Unsure of what to say, Roy did as he was told for once. Something about the blonde's words really bothered him, especially the way he avoided the question. It was almost as if he was unsure of what to say himself. Roy knew that such a thing usually meant almost certain affection if the person was a woman. But a man, who was just a few mere years his junior? He wasn't so sure of it anymore. If only his aching brain wasn't telling him that something about the blonde man's tone was sending up red flags. At this point, he was having trouble understanding what the flags stood for.

His thoughts were interrupted when the car, or rather his car, came to a slow and gentle stop, the engine suddenly dying to where only the sounds of distant conversations, people's shoes as they passed and the light whoosh of passing cars filled his ears. Even the mid afternoon light was blinding, the sounds his ears picked up deafening, causing him to almost hiss in pain. Vaguely hearing the driver's side door opening then closing again, Roy could only sit and wish he hadn't misplaced his hat at the scene. After what seemed like hours, he felt cool air brush over him from his right side, making him turn and force his eyes open.

Ink black eyes met kind grey, one pair in silent agony as the other stared at him with worry swirling in their depths. The familiar voice of Alphonse Elric met his ears as the younger man tested the waters with an uncertain tone. "Roy?"

Wincing at the oddly loud volume, Mustang forced himself to respond to the man's inquiry. "A-Alphonse?"

"Yes it's me." He said, a kind smile brightening his worried face a little before it changed back to concern once again. "Are you all right? Brother says you're not feeling well."

Mustang could only stare at the younger man, extremely confused, mainly due to his growing headache. "Brother? You have a brother?"

A kind chuckle met his ears, this time not making him wince as the brunette standing outside his side of the car just smiled again. "We'll talk about that later. C'mon, we'll help you upstairs."

He closed his eyes against the light, using a hand to cover them in the hopes of shutting out the element entirely as he spoke in almost a whisper. "… Fine."

Kind and gentle hands, warm through the few layers of fabric guarding his skin made him aware of Alphonse then Edward assisting him in standing up. The light slam of the car door and the distant sound of beeping to tell them that the locks had been initiated thus allowing them to walk away without a care was barely audible in his mind. He felt so tired. Oh so tired, making him want to just either drop where he was or just go back into his car and fall asleep. But knowing the blonde, which wasn't very well, he'd likely just drag him towards the elevator while screaming in his ear. As if the headache that kept him awake was bad enough.

Trying to keep his balance enough to not be too much of a burden to the two younger men willing to help him, Roy tried his very best to stay in perfect step with them before they came to a stop.

From his direct left side, Al's kind voice somehow muscled its way through his pain and fatigue. "How do you feel Roy?"

"Like I'm gonna die if I don't lay down soon." He grumbled almost under his breath, trying his best to hold himself up despite the two younger men helping him stand without looking like a drunk.

"Where should we take him?" Al asked softly, obviously towards Ed as he felt them stop and turn to face the other way, the slight sound of doors closing and a loud 'bing' rocking his brain like a baby rattler. "He can sleep on our couch until later."

Ed, however, wasn't being so kind on his sensitive ears. "I don't know. I've got his keys so I was thinking of just dumping him at his own place but if you guys can watch him while I head back would be a whole lot better."

Maintaining his soft tone, Al returned his attention to the older man they both supported by the arms. "Did you want to shower first Roy? You're both so filthy."

"Don't wanna…." He managed to get out before another pulse of agony sent him into a forced silence. It hurt to even think. _Damn. Is it that bad?_

"What?" Al brought him back to reality with the simple word.

He had to force the words from his own mouth, trying to speak loud enough for both younger males to hear clearly. "Don't… wanna be… a … burden."

"I'm willin' to just leave him here." Ed grumbled from his right, sounding genuinely annoyed with this task.

"Ed!" Al exclaimed a bit too loudly, making Roy wince and nearly groan in protest to the sudden rise in volume.

If only Ed was that sensitive as he just went on talking with the same tone and volume as before. "What? I'm just kidding."

"Then don't say stuff like that!" the younger of the two scolded, sound appalled with Ed's suggestion of just leaving the older man where he was.

"Ow." Roy managed to say loud enough for both to hear, mainly at the pain in his ears rather in his arms as both males gripped them a bit too hard. "Pain. Not good."

"Oh I'm sorry!" Al said quickly, readjusting his grip and lowering his voice considerably only to nearly send them all to the floor of the elevator.

It was Ed's turn to scold his sibling as he let out an angry hiss. "Careful Al!"

A silence ensued, that in itself easing Roy's pain by a lot before Al decided to whisper out the one question hanging in the air. "So what happened to you guys?"

"We nearly got blown up." Ed said calmly, nearly making Roy laugh at the bluntness of the response.

Al wasn't as amused by this response. "What? Ed! Why didn't you tell me?"

"We're alive aren't we? That should be enough don't you think?" Ed snapped, not really realizing that they were both practically yelling now.

_Somebody just shoot me now._ Roy thought as Al just went on with his justified scolding of his obviously older brother. "It's still something I needed to know!"

Ed just seemed to roll his eyes at this, even though Mustang didn't see it actually happen, he somehow knew that he did. "Al, don't start."

Before the two came to blows, Roy somehow found the means to butt in on the conversation/yelling match. "Hey. Are we there yet? I don't feel so good."

"Give it another floor. You're goin' to Al's." Ed grumbled, the sound of the blonde's boiling anger etched into his tone.

"And when did we establish that?" Al practically exclaimed, sounding a bit more surprised than aggravated.

Ed just seemed to shrug, mainly from the way Roy felt his own right arm lift and fall with the blonde's shoulders. "Right now. I'm not leavin' this guy by himself."

Alphonse could only sigh in defeat. "Fine. But shouldn't we go to his place and get him some new clothes?"

The older man between them somehow raised his voice again, hoping his words counted in the 'conversation'. "That sounds like a good idea to me. I feel like shit."

"You look and smell like it too." Ed muttered with a snicker, apparently very amused with his own joke.

"Ed!" Al snapped, practically sending Roy's mind reeling into pain filled chaos even as the man realized his mistake and spoke softer. "That was unnecessary!"

"It's the truth! I'm tellin' ya, that building was really frickin' old."

Al seemed to let it go as he let out a sigh and went on talking in the same soft tone so to not cause the man between them more pain. "I've already got a key to his place so I'll get him some new clothes later. You should head back and check in."

Edward merely shrugged again, this time mimicking his younger brother's tone when he spoke again. "Yeah, I was already told to do that anyway so I'll probably be back later tonight."

"Do you need a ride?" Al inquired. Roy could swear the question was purely automated compared to the rest of the man's queries.

"No, I'll just steal this bastard's car again." this time, despite having his eyes closed the whole time, Roy could swear the blonde was smiling like a fool when he said the word 'bastard'.

Al, naturally, wasn't as gleeful. "Ed! Don't call him that!"

"But it's true." Came the whisper, barely audible over the loud 'bing' of the elevator doors opening, making all three begin their slow stumbling into the hallway just ahead of them.

With a gentle turn, they headed in an unknown direction as Roy tried to keep his back straight even though his head felt like it weighed a ton. Never in his life had he felt like this. Ever. And it was probably going to be the worst he'd ever have. He felt them make another turn before coming to a stop. _A door. Great. Just great._ He thought, wondering if Ed would snap in frustration again.

Much to his surprise, neither male said anything as he heard the door swing open almost by itself. He wanted to open his eyes, but unshed tears of pain had collected the dust covering him practically from head to toe and had become a gooey substance. Even the thought of it was far from appealing. Their shoes sounded almost like thunder on the wooden flooring before becoming an odd shuffling sound on a carpet. After what seemed like an eternity, Mustang felt the two younger men try to ease him downward. Unsure but compliant nonetheless, Roy tried to do the same without losing his balance which was almost gone anyhow.

"Easy Roy, easy." He heard Al say softly as the hands shifted to hold him up, but still ease him down onto what he hoped was something in relation to a chair.

As he felt the soft material of the couch under his back and skull, Roy felt himself immediately relax, failing to keep a tired groan from escaping his lips. In all his life, he'd never truly felt this tired. And that was only because he'd been up for nearly a week and had been wearing the same clothes for nearly five of those days. The sounds of footsteps moving away from him was something he barely registered as he let himself fall to the side, somehow bringing his own legs up to lie on the full expense of the couch itself. A few minutes seemed to pass before something wet was padded across his face in a very soothing manner. Apparently it was enough to get rid of the wet dust keeping his eyes shut. Curious in as to who it was doing this, he opened an eye only to regret it. The eyes were a dark blue.

Winry smiled as kindly as she could at him, her expression completely drenched in a deep sadness. He wanted to look away, but he knew that wouldn't do much good at this point.

"Where'd they go?" it was the only thing that he could truly ask without feeling like a complete idiot.

Blinking at this question, her sad and gentle smile returned a little stronger as she wrung her cloth out into the bowl she'd brought over at some point. "Al went to get you some new clothes and Ed went to clean up and then head back to work. He said he'd be back later with some of the files you needed to look at if you were well enough."

"… I see." He let a pause stretch between them as she continued to get rid of the dust that'd collected itself on his face. Like all the times before, he just had to ask the one question that always ate at him like crazy. "Do you still hate me?"

"What! No! No I--." She faltered, not really sure what to say. How many times had she actually yelled at him out of anger? Out of sorrow over her loss because of him? Out of hate? The light blonde girl didn't really remember anymore.

Eyes of ink black tried to look into dark blue. "You don't have to hide it. If you hate me, then…."

Her hand was shaking as Winry tried not to let tears fall. "It's not that I hate you…. it's just that…."

"All I can do is fulfill my promise. If I was smart back then, I'd have gone against the order." Roy said calmly, this time turning his attention to the floor. He hated seeing her cry over what he'd done. What he regretted doing.

This time she almost giggled only for it to come out as a hiccup. "Knowing you now, I think you would have."

He didn't say anything this time. He didn't dare to. All he wanted was for the past to be undone to where the horrible memories that loomed in the back of his head didn't exist, and the girl in front of him would smile like it was the best day of her life.

"You have a bit of a fever. Maybe you caught a bug or something. How long have you been in pain?" she asked suddenly, thankfully bringing him out of his thoughts so he could answer her like he should.

"An hour. Maybe more but possibly less, I'm not really sure." Roy paused, almost uncertain of what to say before looking her in the eye once more. "They said that they loved you and that, if I could, that I should look out for you for them."

"You say that every time." Winry practically whispered, trying to hold back the endless river of tears he always seemed to see running down her face.

Willing his arm to move, Roy Mustang managed to get his hand to rest atop the light blonde haired girl's head as she tried not to cry, wondering if he should be crying right along with her. "And I keep on wondering if you even believe me."

Smiling kindly at the gesture of comfort, Winry let it stay there for a few more seconds before gently taking it off and placing the compliant limb back onto the couch next to the older man lying there. Standing back up to tower over him, Winry Rockbell gave him the most sincere smile she could muster. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour so when Al comes back with your clothes, be ready to get up again okay?"

"As you command milady." He said with a cool smile before shutting his eyes again, vaguely hearing the young woman quietly walk off as he let his mind and body give into the black abyss going by the name of sleep.

Alrighty then! It's finally done and I really hope you guys have been waiting all too patiently for its arrival! One can only pray that you guys are havin' as much fun with this as I am. Hopefully you guys will be kind enough to review soon. Anyway, here's what's to come!

Next chapter:

Chapter 6: Painful Memories

Hmm. It seems that there's more to Winry's past than meets the eye. How does Al know about it? And it seems that Roy is involved up to his ears in it! What exactly was it that Roy feels so guilty about and it makes Winry want to cry her eyes out? And why didn't Al tell Roy that Ed was his older brother upon seeing the two together? Or did he think that good ol' Roy would see the family resemblance upon seeing Ed last chapter? Who knows? I know! But I'm not gonna tell ya until next time on '_Departmental Issues_' with the much anticipated coming of:

_**Chapter 6: Painful Memories!**_


	6. Chapter 6: Painful Memories

Welcome back you guys

Welcome back you guys! It's great to have ya here to read up some more on my latest fanfic '_Departmental Issues_'! Things are a little hectic on my end, but it's all worth it if I get some real good feedback every once and a while. But enough about that. Let's get on with the show! I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form, but having a Mustang plushie would be the most awesome thing right now. Enjoy!!

"Iii" speech

_Iii_ thoughts

Chapter 6: Painful Memories

Walking back towards the elevator doors with his younger brother walking right next to him. _Just like old times._ He thought, almost smiling at the memory of heading down a dirt road in the summer sun. Back when his leg had been normal and their mother was still with them. Ed fought down his hate towards their father. Now wasn't the time to be remembering the man who'd vanished without even bothering to tell them why he wouldn't be coming back. Looking over at his younger sibling, the blonde felt questions rising as they neared the metal doors of the elevator.

"Why was Mustang confused when you told him I was your brother?" he had to ask his sibling. It was a little strange that Al had a neighbor who knew little about him.

Perking up at the question, Al just smiled a little sheepishly. "Oh that? I guess I kinda failed to mention you to him. Only Winry knew about you to be honest."

"No one else?" Ed couldn't help but look extremely incredulous at this concept of only being known by one person other than his new coworkers.

"Afraid not. I guess… I was still sad about not being able to find you." Al said with a dismal smile, his eyes miles away.

Ed's annoyance at this lack of information brought him back to reality as the older of the two scowled at him from under the thin layer of dust. "Would've made it a lot easier knowing that there was a cop living here. Not to mention the fact that I now have to see him here but also at work! How strange is that?"

"I'd say that's definitely a little weird." Al said with a small laugh, ducking in time for Ed to take a swing at him.

"Don't smile! The guy's a complete bastard." He snapped, looking enraged that not only had he missed, but also that his little brother was smiling over a guy he'd come to dislike intently.

Alphonse just rolled his eyes at his brother's almost childish behavior. "Well… I wouldn't say that."

The blonde in question raised an eyebrow, curious at what his younger brother was getting at. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that you're just using your first impression as a means of judging him too quickly. Why don't you try opening up to him more? He might prove that he's more human than you think." Al said with a knowing smile.

Ed just scowled in annoyance. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like where you're takin' this conversation. He's conceited it makes me sick to my stomach!"

"C'mon Ed. He's not that bad." The younger of the two said, rolling his eyes at his brother's predictable stubbornness at denying what he knew to exist. "I've known him for almost four years so I know what I'm saying when I tell you he's capable of more stuff than anyone we know."

Ed's scowl deepened to an almost dark and suspicious look. "I'll hold you to that."

"I bet you will." Alphonse said with another kind laugh before his own curiosity kicked in just in time for the elevator to come to a stop, the doors opening to allow them to exit the metal box. "Are you really gonna take his car?"

The blonde's angered expression instantly transformed into triumphant glee that would make one believe he'd won the lottery. "You bet! That thing is a pretty sweet set of wheels."

Al could only shake his head with a laugh as they came to a stop in front of the apartment doors, Ed standing in front of his own while Alphonse came to stand in front of Roy's. "Only you, Ed, only you can talk about cars like they're girls."

"What are you saying?" the scowl had returned ten fold.

"Nothing."

It deepened further and with a vengeance as Ed practically screamed into his brother's ear. "Like hell! Spit it out!"

Oddly enough, Alphonse merely ignored his brother's demand, literally waving away the blonde's words. "You just go shower and head out to work. I'll get some of Roy's clothes and head back upstairs. We'll make sure to save some food for when you come back."

"Damn straight! Later bro." Ed said with a cocky smile, apparently having let the subject slide.

Literally parting ways, the two brothers headed into a separate door: Alphonse into Roy's while Ed stepped through his own. The door shut behind him with a finality that made it seem as though it would never open again. Thankful of the cane, the wooden curve fairly warm in his hand, Ed knew that without it he'd be on the floor from the pain his leg was giving him. Not the annoying twinge, but a silent screaming that threatened to be voiced from his own throat. Another saving grace came from the fact that he had been smart to put the pill bottle in his pocket before leaving the office. The sad part being that he wasn't supposed to drive after taking them.

Deciding instead to ignore the pulsating agony in his leg, the blonde man made his way towards his bathroom where he instinctively shut the door behind himself, hanging his cane on a towel rack as his clothes fell to the tile floor. It wasn't long before he had the water running at full speed, calmly waiting for the deceptive water to go from ice cold to steaming hot. Upon stepping into the crash of water did the blonde regret setting it to high as he let out a small hiss of discomfort. Thankfully his reflexes were sharp enough for him to quickly turn the knob to a lower temperature, easing the loud protest of his skin.

Amidst the steam and sound of running water, Edward stared down, quietly observing his legs as he did every time he was in the shower. One leg, being the left, was unmarred and perfectly normal. Smooth skin, completely natural in the purest way. The right however, was not like the left. Color and texture set the two legs apart: one smooth and intact, the other discolored by a light brown patch/line making a jagged path across the much paler skin. Every time, Ed didn't know whether to laugh bitterly or to just start crying like he'd done the hundreds of times the year it'd happened. Instead he smirked sullenly to himself and set to washing himself off. He was tired of crying over his past, and such a thing would do nothing to reverse it so he could go back and undo it all.

It felt like hours before he finally left the bathroom in search of fresh clothes with only a towel around his waist, feeling renewed but close to sleepy. But he knew better than to just fall asleep now. Riza, though only knowing her for about a day, didn't seem like one of those people who liked to be kept waiting. So, against his own wishes and that of his tired body, Ed redressed and got ready to leave for another serving of work with mutilated dead people on the side.

--_**About 20 Minutes Later**_—

Riza had returned to the large meeting room when Ed walked through the door, completely clean and dust free. What puzzled her, however, was the fact that his attire hadn't changed that much at all since the last she'd seen him. Black jean jacket over a navy green v-neck t-shirt, atop navy blue jeans and the same black boots/sneakers he'd had on when he'd shown up that morning. As usual, he had his cane with him.

She raised a delicate eyebrow in question at this somewhat lacking change in the blonde man's appearance. "Did you change out at all? Or did you somehow wash your clothes in time to show up here for the rest of your shift?"

The blonde in question stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprised before giving her a half-felt scowl. "Of course I did! I just like to keep things simple. Besides, no one told me if there was a dress code or not so… I come in what I feel like wearing. And this is it."

"I see. Well, I managed to organize some of the new data Roy and I managed to dig up before we were all called to that scene. It seems that our serial killer has been doing some moving around." She said calmly, ignoring his expression enough to point at the pile of file folders sitting at her end of the table.

For all she knew, the handicap man teleported from the front of the room to the end of the table and right next to her as he started flipping through the manila folders and their contents. His expression barely changed, though his golden eyes seemed to hint confusion or deep thought. Beyond that, he might as well have been as stoic as Roy when he was dealing with something he cared nothing for.

The blonde's voice brought her out of her mental comparison. "Hm. I thought as much. From the older case that I managed to dig out of my notes before I came back, you can see just how similar the path taken between the two events are when you take a look at this map I made back when I first started following the case on my own."

It wasn't until then that the older woman noticed that Ed had walked into the room with a folder of his own from which he pulled out a rather old map of New York State, old ink marking cities and small towns with dates scribbled next to them. The mere number of the ones marked astonished the seasoned detective. "This is… extensive. Are you sure that these aren't the work of the same guy?"

"I'm positive now that I've seen just how different the scenes are. The first killer always had these circles made of the victim's drying blood at his scenes all over the walls and even on the ground." Ed said coolly, looking down at the old map in a thoughtful manner, as if he were perplexed by something. "But with our much more recent scenes, he's only just now beginning to incorporate the circles into his 'masterpieces' and then some."

Riza nodded in understanding. "That bomb you found before it exploded. But why circles with other shapes in them when you can just right some kind of weird message? That doesn't make any sense."

"Not when you know what they're for." He said, shaking his head before bringing his free hand up to rub his chin, still staring down at the map. "These circles are called 'transmutation circles', and they're a key element in performing alchemy."

Though she always remained stoic and collected, Riza couldn't help but let her confusion shine through her calm mask. "So… what? He's trying to turn lead into gold?"

Ed merely smirked, waving away the question. "No. He's probably trying to do something a bit more serious. And he definitely thinks it'll work when he's done."

"Which is what exactly? And why alchemy?"

He could only shrug, giving her a look that said that he was just as lost. "To be honest, alchemy is considered a science and the very roots of chemistry. Each of these involves dealing with elements in a mineral or substance. Despite the fact that early on it was used to try and make other metals into gold and prolong human life, it was killed off before every scientist in Europe created its more serious and ethical descendant."

"Modern day sciences."

Ed nodded, a ghostly smirk playing on his lips. "Exactly. So my guess is that this guy thinks that if he uses the old 'hocus pocus' version of chemistry, aka alchemy, he's going to accomplish something that normal science and laws of nature can't."

Riza couldn't help but look deadpan. "What? Prolong his own life span?"

"Maybe but we can't jump the gun just yet." Ed said, calmly looking away and back down at the map, worn edges showing how many times it'd been folded and moved around again and again. "I'll need to dig a bit deeper if we want to be absolutely sure of what this guy's up to and why he's murdering people."

The older woman could only sigh, the slight indication of bags appearing under her amber eyes a bit more apparent now as she picked up the old map and began to pin it to an extra board on the wall. "In the meantime, we had to wait on the crime scene photos to come in. that is if they haven't come in already. Just how big was the explosion?"

Once again, Ed merely shrugged the question off. "Not all that big but powerful enough to take down half the building it was next to it would seem. Lucky for us that building was already abandoned."

"I just hope that it doesn't run out on us." she said, sound tired for once as she headed for the door with her mug in hand before pausing to inquire. "Coffee?"

But what she saw troubled her. Though she'd known the younger man for at least a day, the fact that he was standing before the meeting table, leaning a bit too heavily on his cane with his other hand hiding his face from view was a bit more than troubling in her mind. Cautiously, she spoke again. "Ed?"

He suddenly looked up, a look of puzzlement on his face. "Hm? Oh. No but thanks, I had some before I came back in."

"Are you sure that you're all right Edward?" Riza asked, a look of worry marring her normally emotionless features. "You seem a little pale."

"I-it's nothing. Just my leg being a complete nuisance is all." he knew he was lying to her. The pain was almost overwhelming as always. But he wasn't about to tell her that when there was work to be done. "I'll be fine."

Apparently Riza didn't take no for an answer as she practically marched back to where he stood, the look of worry still lingering as she pulled out on of the chairs. From what Ed could see, she was determined to ensure his well being regardless of what little they knew of each other. "Why don't you sit down? You look like you could use a few minutes off your feet."

Only then did Ed cave, giving her a kind smile as he nodded before moving to obey with a calm chuckle. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, I still need to look over all these files. We still need to figure out why this is happening."

"Very true." Another question lingered in her mind before she let it past her lips, knowing that Ed was the only one who knew the most. "Is Roy alright?"

Ed chose to shrug again, focusing his attention of the files laid out on the tabletop for him to truly read through. "He'll be fine. I left him with my brother."

"Your brother? I didn't know you had family here in New York Ed."

"Well, he's been here longer than I have so it seemed better than leaving him by himself. Especially with a migraine like the one he has." The blonde man said coolly, not even fazed by the fact that Mustang was feeling ill.

Riza could only look a bit surprised at the blonde man's prediction of her coworker's ailment. "A migraine? Are you serious?"

Another calm shrug answered this inquiry. "I've seen it before. He may've appeared drunk but lacking the slur and the smell from alcohol."

As if on cue, Breda, Fuery, Falman and Havoc walked in, all looking a bit ruffled and perhaps a little dusty from being around a half collapsed building for close to an hour or more. The first to speak was Breda as he held up what appeared to be a manila folder, let out a big grin and spoke in an all-too cheerful voice at the younger blonde seated at the table. "Hey boss! Lookin' for these?"

"Boss? Is that my new nickname or something?" Ed inquired with a smirk, leaning back into his chair while Riza claimed a seat across from him.

The grin seemed to grow as if in pride, the other officers seeming to follow suit with the red haired man. "Well yeah! Since you, Roy and Riza are the brains behind this whole thing, we kinda thought you'd need a nickname of a sort. After all, we heard you attacked Denny with a stool over in Tox earlier today."

Riza was quickly intrigued but this new piece of information. "You attacked Denny? What for?"

"Um… well…" Ed stammered nervously, hoping the blonde woman wouldn't think any less of him than she did.

"He called him sho--." Fuery began to say before Havoc, upon realizing what the mousy mortician was going to say, went deathly pale and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth before another syllable of the word could be uttered.

Almost instantly, Ed's expression had gone from calm and kind natured to deathly enraged, golden eyes flashing with hidden, seething rage as he glared from across the room a the four men who'd entered. "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Havoc said almost a little too quickly, understanding when he noticed that his three friends had begun to pale under the blonde man's murderous gaze burning holes into their skulls. "Nothing at all! Honest!"

"Better have been nothin'. Or else…." Ed let the words hang in the air, making Riza, not to mention the four officers at the front of the room, worry about the sanity of their new profiler even as he went on to begin reading one of the files on the table in front of him. Despite this sudden calm, it still didn't ease their sudden fear of the blonde. One could now say that 'hell has no wrath like a testy blonde scorned'.

--_**With Mustang**_—

Even though it'd only been a few minutes, it felt like an eternity before Al finally showed up with a new set of clothes for him. At least now he knew that Winry wasn't exactly cursing his name every five to fifteen seconds when he was within earshot. Now it seemed as if her anger had merely given in to sadness over her loss. His foolish mistake of actually doing what he was told. It was thoughts like this that made him wonder if he should've swallowed a bullet by now. This time, like all the other times, he chose to ignore such thoughts. Last time he'd tried it, Al had come in with groceries for him while the time before that, Winry had walked in after returning with a load of clean clothes she'd voluntarily cleaned for him despite his not asking her to do so. He could only shiver at the memory of the time long before where Riza had caught him. Never had he seen such rage in her amber eyes.

"Roy?" a voice inquired from somewhere above him, making him snap out of his thoughts long enough to force an eye to open. Wincing at the oddly bright lighting in the room, Roy caught sight of Alphonse staring down at him with a look of concern. As he silently cursed himself for not being attentive, the 22-year-old man spoke again with the same tone of worry in his voice.

"Are you alright Roy?"

His throat felt unusually dry while his tone was obviously expressing his slowly growing fatigue. "Yeah. Just… really tired."

Blurry vision made it a little difficult to see the understanding smile on the younger man's face. "Can you stand up? I have your clothes and some others to sleep in if you want to crash here for the night."

"Sleep sounds good right now." Al's kind laughter filled his ears. It was apparent that he wasn't really taking his answer all that seriously. He really did want to keep on sleeping. Or at least until he stopped feeling like an old newspaper that had stains of ink where words and pictures should be.

"You need to get clean first silly! Not to mention some food in your stomach. If I know you like I do, you probably haven't eaten in hours."

Roy knew that the younger man wouldn't leave him be, and Winry would only just come and help if he failed. Not wanting to make the girl even more upset than she probably already was, the raven-haired man chose to give in. "Alright… you win."

"Good! Now c'mon. Up we go." Al said encouragingly, making the older man aware of the warm hands lifting him upright.

Roy allowed himself to be pulled upwards and onto his still unsteady feet. Even after having such a peaceful lie down, he still felt very dizzy and his vision was still a bit on the blurry side. But he let himself be led out of the room, down the hall and towards the bathroom where Al eased him onto the toilet seat.

He knew that the room wasn't all that different from his own considering that all the apartments had been designed all the same. The only difference was that everything was just facing a different direction. "Do you need any more help?"

Shaking his head at the blurry image of the younger brunette, Roy wanted some time to himself. He hated being treated like a weak old man. "I don't think so. Unless the shower stall is on the ceiling, tell me."

Alphonse just chuckled at his words, patting him gently on the shoulder before heading for the door. "No, it's not. I'll be around if you need me."

"Right." He said simply, not knowing what else to say to him.

Almost soundlessly, the light haired brunette left the older raven-haired man to himself and his thoughts again. Fighting down the pain in his head, Roy somehow, as if by some miracle, managed to stand up by himself and shed his coat. Immediately he felt his shoulders protest at the movement. Biting down a hiss of pain, Roy managed to focus all his attention on getting his clothes off all the while hoping not to make a sound that would alert the young couple that something might be wrong.

When he finally got his shirt and tie off, he was thankful to sit down and pull off his shoes, nearly falling over from vertigo. It almost made him think that the whole room was spinning and he was stationary while sitting on the porcelain bowl. Somehow he ignored this and continued with his task, thankful that it'd only lasted a few moments before he had to stand up again to deal with his pants.

--_**Meanwhile, Elsewhere**_—

Since his latest attempt at sending a message had failed, he felt rage boiling under his stoic demeanor. But he knew better than to let it show through. Not that he cared what they thought of him that much. He simply wasn't used to expressing himself to an extent that made others aware of what he might be thinking. No use scaring the sheep half to death when you're just going to strike them from behind when no one's looking. That would just spoil the hunt. Leaving such thoughts for later, he turned in the darkness of his lair to face his latest catch trying to wriggle their way out of a spindly chair.

Eyes wide and darting, the woman's hands flopped around, as if hoping to catch onto something that was far beyond their reach. Shoulders twisted and shook against the thick layers of duct tape that kept her in place as her breathing raced like a horse that'd just finished a race. Her attempts to scream were muffled by the cloth over her mouth as a small river of red mixed with her sweat. Little did she know how her fear calmed his foul mood to where he could ignore how annoyed he'd been at the lack of results from the bomb he'd set nearly a day before. If he'd known it'd be so damn weak, he'd have built it differently.

_Oh well. I'll deal with that later. For now, I need to make up for lost time._ He thought almost absently as he gripped the weapon in his hand. The woman's muffled screams of terror grew a little louder, eyes as wide as humanly possible as the dim glisten of light on metal flashed in the dark only to swiftly come down in an arch of silver as it pierced cloth, skin and flesh. Within seconds of striking, red was everywhere. It'd been only a matter of hours since he'd seen such a thing as he quickly brought the blade up again for another strike, not caring that the woman was still weakly struggling against her bounds even as she slowly lost life and energy.

After what felt like hours, the woman had gone still, her eyes staring at nothing while her face remained contorted in fear and pain. This was common for him, even when the target had been male. They'd tried to fight against what held them down and failed. Looking down at the complex circle drawn onto the worn, concrete floor, he could only hope that he'd been able to get the soul. Even if he didn't think of them as people, they still had souls. To him, souls meant energy. Power. Elements to be mixed with others of his choosing so that the desired outcome could occur as per his design. Only he needed more souls, more _energy_, in order for it to work the way he wanted. Sadly, like all the times before, the circle under the chair didn't even flicker to life with power or light to show that her soul had been collected. Instead, he looked to his arm.

The markings upon it had always puzzled him. He'd never really known what they were for, only that his brother had sacrificed his life for him to have it. Where his shoulder ended and the arm began was separated by a thick, jagged line, one skin a little darker than the other. Written down under the slightly darker skin, the black lines of graceful designs, their exact meaning unknown to even him. All he knew was that it was when he killed that they glowed a strange red color, just like they were now.

_Hm. Another soul added to the collection. How odd that the markings work but the circle doesn't. Oh well. I still have so much to do before I can stop now._ He thought, his bare feet padding quietly on the cold concrete as he traveled up the concrete stairs to the small house he owned a good half hour out of the big city limits. All he really needed to do at this point was get rid of the woman before she started to stink in time to find another useless soul for his strange arm to collect. But even he knew better than to be walking around the Big Apple with no clothes on and with blood covering him from nearly head to toe.

Right hand twitching from the marking's recent activity, while ignoring the sight of an 'x' shaped scar adorning his own forehead and oddly reddish brown eyes, the unnamed man made the silent journey to his small bathroom to rid his tanned, muscular body of the woman's blood like he'd done so many times before. As he turned on the water and waited for the temperature to rise, the scar faced man couldn't help but wonder just what to do about the golden blonde now walking in the midst of his countless enemies.

--_**With Ed**_—

The blonde in question somehow held back a powerful sneeze, making the blonde woman seated across from him raise an eyebrow. Letting out a sniffle and a sigh of relief, Ed pretended not to notice her scrutiny.

Riza wasn't so indifferent to this close call of possible allergies. "Are you coming down with a cold Ed? I can finish up here."

"No. I'm fine. Someone's probably just talking about me or somethin'." He said with a calm shrug, flipping through another one of the many files before letting it come down with a flop onto the top of the pile as he grabbed for another one.

"Oh? A girl?" Havoc inquired from down the table, sounding a bit too hopeful for someone who looked like he was about to break down and cry like a baby from on going depression.

Ed just scowled at him from over his notes. "Are you kidding me? I've only been here a week! The only people who actually know me are you guys, that bastard Mustang and my brother and his girlfriend."

"Your brother has a girlfriend?" Riza inquired, her usually toneless voice hinted with disbelief at this piece of information.

The blonde man nodded before looking down at his notes again, flipping through a page or two before coming back again and writing something down. "Yeah. Some blonde girl named Winry Rockbell."

"Winry?" they seemed to say in unison, looking a little surprised to hear the name coming from someone they barely knew.

He couldn't help but look a little surprised himself that they knew the girl at all, having thought that only Roy and Al knew about her. Apparently not. "You guys know her?"

"Sort of. She and Roy have known each other for quite a while. But we didn't know you were Al's brother." Falman said from across the table, his words confirmed by their nods of acknowledgment, obviously feeling a little awkward for not seeing the connection before.

_Man. Did Al really keep to himself about me?_ Ed could only shrug away his thoughts and the man's words, trying to ignore his growing annoyance over the matter as he jotted down a few more quick notes. "Yeah well, Roy didn't know about me until Al pointed out the fact that our last names are the same."

"That's Roy for you."

"I don't know him all that well so no, I don't." the blonde deadpanned, not looking all that amused over the whole thing.

Ignoring his words entirely, Riza gave him a prolonged glance before looking away again. "Now you're sure you don't want to leave early?"

This time Ed just let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm pretty sure Riza. I need to be able to read these later on. Hopefully good ol' Detective Bastard'll be conscious to read them too."

"How was he when you left anyway?" Havoc inquired even as Breda and Fuery tried to hold back snickers at Ed's nickname for their superior officer.

"Pained, not to mention sleepy as hell." The blonde said calmly, not even bothered by his description of the older man's suffering. "Poor asshole couldn't even stand up on his own two feet."

Riza merely scowled at her own papers, apparently holding back annoyance and seething rage over the raven-haired man's stubbornness. "I warned him about staying up so long like that. Hopefully he'll listen this time around."

"Well, you sounded like you were going to force your hand through the receiver and shoot him in the ass if he didn't so I think he will."

The blonde woman, as well as all others in the room, looked right at Ed in obvious surprise. But surprise gave in to confusion, as Havoc was the first to speak. "How do you know that?"

"Experience." He said bluntly. Ed didn't see any point in lying.

All the man seemed to nearly stand up in surprise. "What? Really? You've met someone as harsh as Riza?"

The woman in question scowled defensively at Havoc but said nothing as Ed scratched his chin in thought. "Well… probably not someone _as_ harsh, but definitely strict."

"So? Who was it?" Breda asked, his expression showing how he and his comrades wanted to be informed of this other Riza-like individual.

If only blunt was Ed's middle name. "My foster mom."

There was a long, awkward silence, only Ed wasn't feeling anywhere near awkward. He knew they'd ask such a question. And he'd prepared himself for it over a thousand times over.

"Y-your foster mother?" even as Riza spoke the one thing on their minds, the four men occupying the table with the room's two original occupants could only sit in a shocked silence. "What about your brother?"

Ed refused to look their way as he continued his task of flipping through pages and occasionally taking notes. He didn't want them to see his pain. "He got sent to a different home."

"O-oh. I see." He knew that if he looked, Ed would see the pained look in her eyes as she tried to go on. "I didn't mean to--."

Putting on a calm expression, Ed cut her off. "No, no. It's fine. I'm just glad I could track him down after all these years."

Ignoring their shocked scrutiny of him, Ed continued to work calmly as if he hadn't said a thing. Though it wasn't until a few hours later that he finally gave in to Riza's insistent nagging that he packed up what he had and, fingering Mustang's keys as if they were the key to the biggest secret on earth, Ed headed out into the parking lot and into the night. Even though his first day on the job had been a strange one, it was still well worth being near his brother again.

--_**With Roy**_—

Hot water, fresh clothing, a little food and two foul tasting pills were all the raven-haired man needed to feel refreshed. But it also made him very sleepy after only being truly conscious for about two full hours of dealing with a young couple who nearly scolded him for his brash way of working too hard every ten to fifteen minutes. Just thinking back about it almost made him chuckle. Al and Winry knew him a bit too well for his own good. But it wasn't really all his fault that they'd come to know him as a friend rather than a neighbor. Not with the past he had.

Wincing at the horrible memories threatening to surface, Roy somehow pushed them aside as he almost flopped lazily onto the couch where Al and Ed had left him nearly five hours beforehand before Ed left for work and Al left to get him the clean clothes he was now wearing. He didn't like to impose on the young pair who tried to treat him just like family. Not that he didn't want to be treated as such, only he didn't see why they'd trust him in the first place.

_Is it their way of saying 'I forgive you'? Or are they just tryin' to keep me from drinking again?_ He thought absentmindedly. It'd been when he'd tried to commit suicide that he'd also been drinking heavily. Real heavily and not just two bottles of tonic and gin either. He could really hold his liquor now that he'd gotten used to the taste and the slight buzz that came later and later into his frenzies. But what didn't really change was the taste of the drinks he practically inhaled in his times of depression. Even if the drink was meant for a happier occasion, with a sweet taste and enlightening smell, it was never really enough to get him back to reality.

"Hey." Roy looked up to find Alphonse standing only a few feet away from him, that kind smile ever present on his lips.

Blinking in surprise and pushing away his thoughts, Roy managed to get his voice working again. "Huh? Oh, hey."

Kindness shifted to worry as the younger man sat down next to the detective on the couch, looking right into ink black eyes. "Are you feeling alright?"

Roy only shrugged. "Sort of."

"Well, 'sort of' isn't going to cut it." Al said a little sternly, a rare thing for the man to do even as annoyance gave way to concern again. "Do you want to stay here? Or do you want to go back to your own place?"

This time Roy only shook his head, feeling fatigue hit him like a runaway eighteen-wheeler that had no driver behind the wheel. "I think I'll crash here for now. I don't think I want to fall asleep while walking out the door."

"That would be something." Al chuckled mostly to himself, making the older man scowl through his dizzying weariness.

"Shut up."

"Okay, okay fine. Mr. 'I'm Not Suffering From Lack Of Sleep'."

Roy merely scowled at the younger man, none too pleased with his words. "Did you come in here to taunt me? Or did you have something to say?"

"Yeah, I've got something to say: stop working yourself so hard. Winry and Riza won't be to happy when they find out you're not taking care of yourself like you should these days. Especially now that you're working on a case."

This sent them both into a calm silence, though Roy looked almost as though he'd been slapped before the scowl returned a little. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

Al just smirked in a disturbingly knowing manner. "No. Only that Brother's coming home in an hour with notes on your case that he made for you to read when he gets here."

"Ah. That's if I'm awake when he gets here."

The younger male just chuckled at his words only to give in to the ever-persistent concern that always hid beneath the surface. "Roy. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Roy said nothing, deciding to focus his gaze on his hands rather than look into the kind, cool grey eyes boring holes into the side of his skull. "I'd rather not go into it."

"You're sure?"

"I'm pretty sure Al." then something occurred to him that'd escaped his mind for a while now. "But why didn't you tell me you had a brother? I didn't really think to see the connection between your names but… honestly Alphonse, why?"

Something in the man's eyes flashed, something that Roy didn't like seeing even if it was practically the second time in his life to have seen it coming from such a gentle person as Alphonse. No one should see such a strong gloom. Ever. Alphonse merely shook his head, the look in his eye vanishing as the smile returned once again. "Get some sleep Roy. If I know my brother like I do, he'll just try to keep you awake no matter what you say to him."

"You're avoiding the question here." Roy growled, not liking how he wasn't getting any kind of answers from the man.

Al just smirked at him as he stood up. "Look who's talkin'."

Roy didn't really have to think it over. "… Fair enough."

Smiling kindly at him, Alphonse left the older man to sit in the barely lit living room to stare into the dark to ponder their brief discussion. Why, of all things, had Al left out the one thing about himself upon first meeting him all those years back? Did Winry know about Edward before he did? What else was the younger man keeping from him that made him wonder if something else was happening that he didn't know about? _And why didn't I notice that Ed and Al's last names were the same? How could I've been so stupid to miss something that obvious?!_ He thought to himself in frustration, only to feel that ever-insistent pain that should've been masked by pills.

Clearing his mind in the hopes of dulling the aching pain that pulsated through his head, Roy tried to focus on getting a good night's sleep rather than staying up all night deep in thought or doing something work related like he'd done for the past couple of days. Only now he realized that it'd been a stupid thing to do. Before he could lay back down onto the wonderful piece of furniture dubbed the couch, the raven-haired man noticed that something had been left on the coffee table seated a mere half foot away from him. Curious in as to what it could be, Roy made a reach for it.

The object in question turned out to be an old photo album, obviously worn with age and constant viewings of the contents within. Hoping that he wasn't going to be looking at something that was none of his business, Roy cautiously flipped the thin leather book open. What he found surprised him: a miniature version of Ed and Alphonse Elric smiled up at him with their young and content expressions, Ed holding up a large fish hanging from a string of fishing wire, Al holding up one that was a little smaller in size compared to his brother's. Both looked happy at their success, Al smiling that kind, gentle smile he always had while Ed… Edward had a grin that shined almost as bright as the sun shining down on them in the background.

Flipping the page, he found the two boys smiling into the invisible lens with such happy smiles, a older woman standing behind them with a kind smile that mirrored Al's a bit too well. Her dark brown hair and kind eyes of grey stared back at him, seeming to shower him with warmth and gentleness from beyond the sands of time. But after flipping a few more pages, only Al remained as Ed and the woman merely ceased to exist for some reason. Confused by this, Roy tried doubling back only to find it was true. Ed and the woman simply disappeared after nearly six pages of pictures. Beyond that, strangers of varying ages surrounded the light colored brunette for nearly twenty solid pages until Winry finally appeared next to the boy, Roy chuckling to see himself hanging out in the background.

After turning another page, as if by magic, Ed had appeared once again. This picture in question was a bit bigger than all the others in the book, and it appeared to be recent. Probably a month old at best but still recent nonetheless. Al looked like he'd been crying, even though he was smiling to where he was almost grinning like a fool. Ed, however, seemed more collected as he smiled coolly up at him. But even then, the older blonde had a cane in his hands and seemed to be favoring his left leg. From what Roy could discern from that one photo, the two young men seemed to be the happiest they'd ever been in their lives. Flipping ahead some more, the rest of the book was predictably devoid of more photos, the one of the two reunited brothers being the last entry that Roy could actually look at.

_But where did he go? Why did Edward disappear until this photo? Did something happen to them to where they were separated? And why didn't any of the earlier photos of Ed have him with a cane in his hands? What the hell are these two not telling me?_ Roy thought in frustration, closing the leather book and setting it down on the table where it belonged. Once again, fatigue hit I'm like a runaway truck on an open highway, instantly making him want to lie down before he'd been forced to get up. Letting gravity do most of the work for him, he felt an ache make itself known in his spine before spreading to the rest of his bones. Somehow holding back a groan of neither pain nor relief, Roy Mustang felt the world drift away as his mind slowly sunk into the dark abyss that was known only as sleep.

Cleaning up hadn't really been a problem. It never really was when you were especially careful of possibly nosy neighbors. Getting the woman out of his basement and into his care hadn't been all that heard either since he'd done it so many times before. He'd gotten good at this sort of thing. Calmly driving through the practically empty big city streets, the dark skinned man with the 'x' shaped scar on his forehead, kept on trying to think of a good way of getting the male blonde cop out into the open. Right where he wanted him to be. Smiling to himself in the dark of his car, the man took a left onto a smaller road in search of a good alleyway to dump and destroy his latest victim.

Wow. This took a bit longer than I thought it would. But at least it's done right? Right on! I hope you guys haven't been waiting _too_ long for this to get posted. Otherwise I might have to punish myself for bein' so damn lazy. But in the meantime, if you guys have any question, go ahead and ask me in your reviews or just send me a private message. Either one's fine. While you're doin' that, the rest of you can check out what's to come here on '_Departmental Issues_':

Next chapter:

Chapter 7: Raising The Stakes

Our killer's on the prowl for our dear old Edward! And it seems he's concocting a plan to try and outwit him in a test of wills. Can Ed figure out what the killer is planning that involves transmutation circles? It's up to Ed and Roy to try and figure it out before another person is found dead. Or is our favorite blonde destined to fall victim to one man's apparent acts of insanity? If so, will Roy be able to protect Ed from death? Find out in the next installment of '_Departmental Issues_' with:

_**Chapter 7: Raising The Stakes!!**_


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